Frédéric Biya Motto, CEO of Hydro-Mekin says the project will be delivered in May 2014. On a visit to the site on Wednesday, July 24, 2013, he said the access road is almost completed, and that the living quarters for workers of the corporation will be ready in two months, according to the French Language daily, Mutations last Thursday.

A progress report of work on the dam is “no great concern”, the project manager, Guo Dong Sheng said.

Over the Dja River, south of Cameroon, the 15 MW Mekin hydroelectric dam would reinforce the South interconnected grid and also supply power to all eight council areas in the Dja and Lobo Division.

On May 23 during the visit of the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare (MINTSS), Gregoire Owona to the site,  workers  here were bitter, denouncing working conditions imposed on them by their Chinese employers.

And, although not the primary employer, the GM of Hydro-Mekin, Motto Biya also wanted to cheer these hundreds of workers from all parts of Cameroon. “You cannot have a project of this magnitude without addressing environmental and social issues. Chinese standards are not known internationally. It is therefore important to dialogue so that everyone gets the best,” said Mr. Biya Motto.

The first work contracts were signed, and further, toilets worthy of the name are under construction, but the pay package of CFAF 1,700 per day is “too small,” said Luc Zam, a Cameroonian employee of the Chinese