|
|
Dompla is a small but renowned village in the project zone and the fist site of the project on Cameroonian territory. This is a virgin village that was created for the needs of the project and houses the greatest number of camps owned by the various companies working in the project. By the first quarter of 2002, it had an estimated population of 9000 people both employed and unemployed living there.
An unpublished study carried out by this writer at the end of 2001 reveled that about 150 acts of sexual intercourse takes place every day in the village, with about 40% of these registered by the 72 popular prostitutes who participated in the study. This gave a total of 1050 acts a week and about 4200 acts of sexual intercourse a month. What would make you catch your breath about this filthy sex business is that it’s always the same women for different men.
A typical day in Dompla starts with the workers going to their jobsites as early as 4.00Am. This leaves the women (Prostitutes Inclusive) and the unemployed male population back home during the day. Gross acts of infidelity and illicit sex have been registered in these villages during the day by the unemployed left behinds. For want of money, it is commonplace for spouses to welcome their external sexual partners during the day when their better halves are at work. What is usually left undone during the day is reserved for the vibrant evenings and nights out.
Apart from the jobsites, drinking, sports and nightclubs are the only distraction for the population. Free women usually moving half naked or shamelessly dressed in tight-fitting pantaloons and attires that exhume all of their contours swarm these sports and nightclubs where the sex trade gains momentum. By the latter part of the night, they have already the client of the day and then go drinking. The day’s activities end up in their dark rooms where compensation takes place. Those who are resistant and strong enough go on about three different encounters before its morning.
Countless stories come up all the times about these women who fight over men. The saddest incidents of all where those involving four men of Philippine origin, they paid a prostitute 150.000Fcfa (About US$ 214.15) and sexed her to death; another group had a prostitute admitted to hospital at the end of a vigorous sex encounter that left her with a torn vagina. She is even quoted to have written a public notice shortly after her release from hospital, inviting more men to come to her house and claiming that she had survived. The local Gendarmerie brigade now settles Sexworker – client relationship problems than their normal work. Some of the prostitutes even keep debtors books. Recently, a senior executive worker paid as much as 500,000Fcfa (Some US$715) to a handful of prostitutes as debts he owed them when it became a gendarmerie case. They had simply regrouped themselves and took the matter first to the customary court of the village head. The gendarmes were brought in when the man became unyielding and refused to clear his bills.
The bitter and most frightening truth about the project since its take off in 1997 is that no STI/HIV/AIDS campaign or sensitization had been carried out until early December 2001. The companies involved later on started distributing condoms to their workers as part of their company regulations. Condom consumption in the month of May 2001 was 2,504. This figure is actually less than proportional to the vigorous frequency of sexual activity going on. More to it, considering the absence of sensitization on the disease and especially on condom use, most of its users don’t even know how to use it. It has become a half-a-loaf-is-better-than-nothing story and really not the solution to this spreading virus given the failure rate of the condoms. Before my own very eyes, I watched workers and local inhabitants as well as some of the prostitutes testing positive at some of the company infirmaries.
As if this was not bad enough, most of the companies didn’t really have a commitment to sensitizing their workers on the dangers of these diseases. One could easily understand their rationale given that; the time taken from initial infection to the first appearance of clinical signs of HIV is pretty long and would happen probably when the construction phase of the work must have been over. By this time, most of these companies would have been gone thus the economic impacts in terms of paid absences, sick leaves, medical care and retardation in the advancement of the work would not affect them. Probably if the construction was to last for some 8 to 10 years, they would have taken things more serious. This therefore means that the actual consequences and effects of this disease would be brought to bear on the respective countries after the project. It is clear that only those companies involved in the actual 25 years exploitation Phase of the project would have to bear the economic crunch of the disease when their workers start falling sick from HIV/AIDS.
|
Tags
You must be logged in to add tags.
|
Writer Profile
Crystal_Abongta
Abongta is my name, some people especially writers choose to call me Crystal Brain. I am 28yrs old and a proud Cameroonian, who insists in seeing things in a slightly different perspective. I have a passion for satire thus my artistic works bring out that aspect in me which is most often kept in the catacomb of my being.
The tyrannical society, in which I grew up, shaped me into what I am today. My works especially the paintings serves as a major outlet without which I would better not exist.
|
Comments
NICE Pooja | Apr 4th, 2003
Good article!!
CATASTROPHY AWAITING TO HAPPEN WORLD BANK CONSULTANT | Jun 6th, 2003
The story above regarding the pipeline prostitution is very disconcerting but true. However, a CATASTROPHY of high degree awaits the general public of Chad/Cameroon when the pipeline is commisioned. The pipeline and support systems are INFERIOR SUB-STANDARD AND UNSAFE and should not be commissioned owing to irregularites and anomalies at design,procuremnt,construction and operation phases. The World Bank have connived and colluded with Exxonmobil to defraud and deceive public funds.
Exxonmobil do not give a damn for the local people or the environment, they have compromized every conceivable international regulation in the construction of the pipeline and support system.
International health and safety regulations have been consistently compromized.
Exxonmobil care about one thing only $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
CHAD CAMEROON PIPELINE CATASTROPHY WORLD BANK CONSULTANT | Jun 16th, 2003
The emergency shutdown valves on the pipeline are not in accordance with international standards. Exxonmobil have compromized every conceivable regulations for the hydrocarbon industry and the Offshore Floating Storage tanker is an obsolete "rust bucket" Welcome to Exxonmobil cowboy projects .
The Chad Cameroon pipeline is a time bomb waiting to go off.
The financial institutes funding the project do not give a damn for the general public, i.e COFACE/World Bank/EIB/IFC/ABN-AMRO/EXIM.
They have allo got their fingers in the till!!!!
You must be a TakingITGlobal member to post a comment. Sign up for free or login.
|
|
