Sous la présidence effective du chef de l??Etat, Paul Biya, l??inauguration officielle aujourd??hui du palais polyvalent des Sports de Yaoundé est un événement à la fois inédit et exceptionnel. Première infrastructure de cette nature édifiée chez nous, le palais polyvalent des Sports de Yaoundé est l??un des fruits de la fructueuse coopération entre la République populaire de Chine

et le Cameroun. Il vient assouvir dans la capitale de notre pays dont les exploits sportifs retentissants sont jusqu??à présent inversement proportionnels à la qualité des infrastructures de préparation et de compétition, un besoin essentiel depuis longtemps ressenti non seulement par les sportifs bien sûr, mais aussi par les organisateurs de spectacles, de séminaires ou de réunions de toutes natures, sans oublier les hommes d??affaires et les patrons d??entreprises. La solennité de la cérémonie de ce jour est donc à la mesure de la célébration d??un événement multidimensionnel dont les perspectives s??annoncent prometteuses pour la promotion de la jeunesse et de l??esprit d??entreprise au Cameroun, sans oublier la dimension ludique pour tous les Camerounais. Le palais polyvalent des Sports de Yaoundé, situé à l??entrée « La Briqueterie », quartier populaire est un joyau architectural bâti sur une superficie d??environ 12 400 m2. Sur un sous-sol, un rez-de-chaussée et deux étages, sont répartis des aires d??échauffement pour tous les sports de salle, les salles de contrôle technique, des boutiques, des toilettes, des vestiaires, des salles d??exposition ou de réunion, ou encore des salles de travail pour les médecins, les journalistes etc. Le grand gymnase peut accueillir 5 400 places assises, avec des tribunes amovibles. Avec les jardins et les parkings extérieurs, l??ensemble couvre une superficie totale de 36 000 m2. C??est à dessein que ce bel ensemble infrastructurel est appelé palais polyvalent des Sports de Yaoundé. La capitale peut désormais accueillir des compétitions nationales et internationales de toutes les disciplines disputées en salle sur un plancher en bois spécialement aménagé à cet effet : basket-ball, volley-ball, hand-ball, tennis de table, etc. Ainsi, les sportifs camerounais seront encore mieux préparés et mieux adaptés pour évoluer sur ces aires de jeu les plus répandues aujourd??hui à travers les gymnases dans le monde. Mais le palais polyvalent des Sports pourra aussi le cas échéant, accueillir des cérémonies de vernissage ou de mariage, des colloques ou des expositions, des défilés de mode, des conférences internationales ou des touristes de tous bords, dans des conditions techniques visuelles et acoustiques tout à fait modernes. Voici une infrastructure nouvelle appelée à galvaniser le génie créateur des Camerounais. Car construire un palais polyvalent des Sports ne suffirait pas, si en même temps, ne se développe une créativité et un sens élevé des responsabilités nourris des talents et de l??expérience des gestionnaires comme des usagers. Avec le palais polyvalent des Sports, le Cameroun s??engage dans une phase majeure de l??évolution de son hospitalité légendaire et de sa visibilité dans l??accueil et l??organisation d??importants rendez-vous culturels et sportifs africains voire mondiaux. Il est ici question, ni plus ni moins, de l??amélioration de son image de marque, de la consolidation de l??identité nationale que le sport et la culture font déjà rayonner à travers le monde. Voilà pourquoi son appropriation ne passe pas seulement par les cérémonies de l??inauguration officielle, par la production des champions et l??organisation de réunions, mais aussi par la sublimation de techniques managériales efficaces, des vertus olympiques et des valeurs éthiques. Ainsi il sera à la fois l??un des lieux d??explosion des talents les plus variés, celui de la conscience aiguë de la préservation et de la promotion du patrimoine commun de la nation. Cependant, l??existence même, dans notre contexte socio-culturel et économique, d??un tel joyau fait surgir d??ores et déjà de nouvelles problématiques. Par qui et comment sera-t-il géré ? Comment sera-t-il entretenu ? Sera-t-il tout le temps ouvert au public et à quel prix ? Comment peut-on le découvrir et le visiter ? Toutes ces questions et bien d??autres, Cameroon Tribune a choisi de les poser franchement, sans les éluder, à travers le dossier circonstancié publié ce jour dans ses colonnes. Ce faisant, nous ne doutons pas que le génie créateur et le patriotisme des Camerounais contribueront à y apporter, en temps opportun, des solutions adéquates.

ESSAMA ESSOMBA
Yaounde Sports Complex Not For Sports Only
The structure can host both sports and cultural events. The Yaounde Sports complex has been heralded as going to boost the development of sports in the country and enable Cameroon host national and international competitions in individual sports disciplines and some collective sports. However, the edifice is not going to facilitate only the organisation of sporting events but also cultural ones. As the Minister of Sports and Physical Education declared, the structure will be open for rents and will equally host cultural events. Cultural events like musical concerts, film festivals and other public manifestations can take place within the precincts of the artistic jewel. In the past, musical concerts were organised in cinema halls or open places not quite suitable for the event either because of want of space or the hazards of the weather. More so, cultural events like Ecrains Noirs and national music festivals were held along the 20th May boulevard in Yaounde and this usually obstructed traffic around the area while residents complained about noise pollution. However, with the closet of the Warda Sports Complex, spectators have enough sitting space and are free from the hazards of the weather such as rainfall. The closed nature of the complex also frees residents around the area of noise pollution. The complex equally offers a better sound and lighting system and a wider stage for artistes to express the full measure of the talents. For film screening festivals like Ecrans Noirs, the Yaounde sports complex is equally equipped with a large video screen board and ample space for both spectators and actors. Spectators will be able to sit conveniently this time and enjoy the show of their choose as opposed to the past when people had to keep standing for hours in order to watch a show which led to some people fainting or abandoning the show ground before the end of the spectacle out of fatigue. Also the complex will be open to individuals and groups who can rent it for activities such as marriages, cultural festivals or any public activity of their choice. In the light of the above considerations, the Yaounde Sports Complex is a welcomed relief to both sports men and men of culture alike.
Fred VUBEM
Handle With Care !
In the past few weeks the press has been particularly mobilised so that the coming inauguration of the capital city??s premier sporting complex is given the aura it deserves. For good measures. It is an open secret that Yaounde suffered a scandalous deficit in sporting facilities. The situation in other main cities of the country is no better. Sporting tourists attracted to Cameroon by the prowess of its national football team or the feats of individual achievers like Françoise Mbango often get bewildered when they get confronted with the rickety or makeshift playgrounds on which our sportsmen and women train. Repeated government pledges to improve the situation have hardly left the drawing board. Successive sporting leaders, often embarrassed at hosting foreign sporting delegations, at last, have something to be proud of now. A state-of-the art sporting facility has recently grown out of the muddy Warda neighbourhood in Yaounde??s central district, a pearl of sorts on the Yaounde crown which Tsimi Evouna, the city??s boss wants to see as beautiful as ever. The Yaounde sporting complex might have taken a long time in coming. But when it came, it was in a big way. The facility which takes iconic proportions in Yaounde??s general paucity of remarkable sights or symbols, can seat some 5000 people and its cutting-edge technology makes it possible to regulate the inner bowl to accept just any kind of sporting or even, cultural event. When the project was still on paper or in the drawing boards of bureaucracy-prone officials, it was costed at some FCFA 12,000 million. Quite a whopping sum in the country??s cash-strapped dispensation. But seen from the point of view of endowing the national capital with the bare minimum of acceptable sporting infrastructure and given the country??s standing in world sport, a facility as convenient and beautiful as the Yaounde Sporting Complex is simply priceless. In the very next days, the gates of the facility will be flung open and Cameroonians will have a real touch of its beauty. The complex might have been built with the assistance of China, but at the end of the day, it must be clearly made known that all the money spent on the project comes from taxpayers?? hard-earned francs. It is therefore incumbent on the managers of the complex and users alike to be fully imbued with the obligation to keep the facility in good working shape. Engineers and technicians must take their lessons seriously to ensure that there are no electricity or water disruptions or other forms of disfunctioning. They must ensure that all equipment is regularly checked and properly maintained. Users must show their appreciation through good practices which could range from a poor usage of toilet facilities, staining of the walls, breaking of glass?? to, say, putting out cigarette fire on plastic appliances or furniture. There must also be a strict and generalized respect of user instructions. Many examples abound to vindicate our fears as this ultra-modern facility goes operational. The Congress Hall is a typical example of ??vandalisation?? of public edifices. Management there has been fighting tooth and nail to ensure that lights and toilets are properly used or, simply, that the lawns are kept green and beautiful by avoiding the opening of thoroughfares. Disused relics of cabins dotted here and there in town send a grim reminder that Yaounde, Douala and other cities once had a thriving public telephone system. Many were either neglected and never repaired or were simply pulled down by hoodlums, in search of coins used in making calls. Similar stories can be told of high-rise government buildings where, due to neglect, sewerage systems or lifts become defective, creating inconveniences for users. A more recent example is the Japanese gift of school buildings. Hardly had many of them gone functional than there were complaints of blocked toilets, stained walls etc. The Yaounde Sporting Complex will be a serious test in knowing if Cameroonians have changed; if they can effectively handle anything with care.
Nkendem FORBINAKE
Cameroun Tribune

Ne manquez aucune actualite !