CRTV EXTREM. NORD Kousseri Bridge of Regional Integration_200723
Transcript
00:00 [Music]
00:04 [Music]
00:08 [Music]
00:35 [Music]
00:42 The border locality of Kuseri, chief town of Lugon-Echari Division of the Far North Region,
00:49 stands out as the pillar of sub-regional integration along the Ndwala-Njamena corridor.
00:56 [Music]
01:01 People can leave from Ndwala to Ndjamena by plane without any passport.
01:07 They just have to show national ID's.
01:10 And when you are crossing the border, particularly between Ndjamena and Kuseri,
01:14 you just cross the bridge, you go, do everything that you are doing and then come back.
01:21 And most of the people here in Kuseri, they have their shops or their kettles
01:27 on the other side of the border. And it is the same thing that Chadians are here in our markets,
01:34 having their shops, doing their business without any problem.
01:38 It means that this integration is a reality.
01:43 [Music]
01:48 Pursuant to reforms within the economic and monetary community of Central African States
01:53 and the avowed determination of President Paul Bia of Cameroon and Idriss Deby Itno of Chad
02:02 to foster this relation, the locality harbors citizens from across the border.
02:08 [Music]
02:12 Since the decision about the cooperation between Cameroon and Chad, everything is going ahead.
02:22 And then, as you can see, Chadians are coming from Chad to Cameroon
02:27 and Cameroonians are going to reach out without problem.
02:31 [Music]
02:44 Since the two heads of state, President Paul Bia and President Idriss Deby,
02:48 decided about the cooperation between Cameroon and Chad, we, traders,
02:53 and about the transport, there is no problem.
02:56 We are very often going to Chad to import goods and sometimes we are exporting goods to Chad.
03:03 [Music]
03:10 It is the case with this lady from Bangui in the Central African Republic
03:16 who operates her business at Kuseri with local employees.
03:21 We have internet connection and information and photography. I don't have any problem.
03:28 [Music]
03:35 Meanwhile, on a daily basis, vehicles transporting assorted goods
03:41 crisscross the common borders at Ngeni Bridge.
03:46 [Music]
03:50 No problem. We go to Chad, load the goods and come here.
03:56 All the time, all day, we go to Chad and come here to Cameroon to load the goods.
04:03 In the morning, I can't sleep at Gunna.
04:07 I can't sleep for more than an hour. I enter Kuseri.
04:11 I carry a banana and stay for a week.
04:14 [Music]
04:27 We receive agricultural products which get into Ndjamena.
04:31 We have bananas, we have pears, we have potatoes and many other products which get into Chad.
04:37 Our duty is to facilitate the movement of those products.
04:40 We make sure they cross respecting the customs regulations, what the customs group provides.
04:47 When it comes to goods on transit, when they get to the bridge, normally the customs formalities are done.
04:53 If it is a conventional transit, goods that come from Douala, from the Douala seaport,
04:59 what is done is that the GPS is removed, we snap the truck, we send the pictures back to Douala
05:06 so that the cleaning agent can go and have his caution.
05:10 That's how it's done. Then the truck moves to Ndjamena.
05:15 We also have goods which are imported into Cameroon and re-exported to Chad.
05:24 When such goods come, they pay 2% and then they cross.
05:30 People go to Chad and they buy cars.
05:33 When those cars get here, since the cars are cleared in Chad and we are in the Semak sub-region,
05:39 what they pay is VAT.
05:42 Since the car has been cleared in Ndjamena, they just pay VAT and they can go in for the car grease.
05:49 [Music]
05:58 This second bridge over River Lugon has further eased the free movement of persons and goods between Cameroon and Chad.
06:07 [Music]
06:13 They don't have all this kind of our food in Cameroon, but they like it.
06:19 So I come here and we have many Cameroonians there in Ndjamena, so I'm like a transit.
06:26 [Music]
06:33 I am a Chadian based in Ndjamena.
06:35 I frequently come to Kuseri to do shopping, especially given that we lack some basic foodstuff in Ndjamena.
06:43 Movement between Kuseri and Ndjamena is free and we thank our heads of state for that.
06:49 [Music]
07:00 The initiative of heads of state of the economic and monetary community of Central African states
07:06 to overcome artificial barriers for the good of the sub-region is a daily reality here.
07:13 The two towns of Ndjamena and Kuseri have decided to organize an international marathon,
07:18 which is called Marathon International Ndjamena-Kuseri, together.
07:22 So the athletes have started to run from Ndjamena and the arrival here is in Kuseri.
07:28 And for that occasion, we have seen that the authorities and the security responsibles have worked together
07:37 to make it possible because it was not an easy stuff.
07:40 We have above more than 700 athletes have been participating to that marathon.
07:45 And we have to protect them to ensure that they have their securities.
07:50 And it was possible because the two administrations of Chad and Cameroon have worked together and made it possible.
07:58 So it's a kind of example that the initiative can come down from down and make it growing up to the head of states.
08:09 And I know that Paul Bia has followed this very carefully and it is David too, he is following this marathon very carefully.
08:18 So it's a kind of success that shows that we can work together between Chad and Cameroon without any problems, without any obstacles.
08:27 So this is the reason why I can believe that the sub-regional integration of SEMAC is a reality.
08:34 And I know that we are going to increase the level of this integration when the time comes.
08:42 [Music]
08:50 It has been decided between the two towns that they have to build a second bridge.
08:55 One for the people who are walking by feet and one for the cars.
08:58 And it made it possible the rate of exchange between the two towns and even to the two countries
09:04 because some of the goods are coming from Douala, Yaounde and maybe even from the Anglophone areas to go and sell in Jemena and vice versa.
09:15 So building this kind of bridge, I hope that there is another bridge that is going to be built in Yagua, between Yagua and Bongo.
09:22 And we need to multiply all these links because a bridge is a link, it's not a border.
09:27 So we need to multiply these kinds of examples to make it easier for people and goods to go and come through the border.
09:35 [Music]
09:50 When you move around town you find many cars with the Chadian number plates.
09:55 They get a clearance pass from the bridge and then they get in, do their activities, which they have to do, their daily activities,
10:01 and they get back in the evening without disturbance.
10:04 Once in a while we have meetings to discuss on the difficulties we're facing with respect to smuggling.
10:11 If you take a look you realize it's just a river that separates the two countries.
10:16 And generally we face a lot of difficulties with smugglers.
10:20 So we generally hold meetings to try to discuss on how to combat smuggling.
10:26 We have a good relationship with them.
10:29 [Music]
10:31 To cement the bond, adequate infrastructure and lodging facilities are in place to accommodate the influx of persons from other parts of the sub-region.
10:41 At our level we have taken many measures, principally in Kuseri.
10:48 We are advising often the promoters to keep clean their hotels or restaurants to welcome tourists from our towns.
11:04 [Music]
11:08 Even River Logan in Cameroon and Shari in Chad have taken a common option to merge at Ngele and flow majestically, just as Semak breaks new grounds daily.
11:21 [Music]
11:31 From sunrise to sunset, Kuseri plays a pivotal role as a pillar in sub-regional integration.
11:39 [Music]