Agrilagdo Experimental Farm - Cameroon

After two years on the Ferke II project, I was asked to go to Garoua, in northern Cameroon, to construct the infrastructure works that Redpath Consultants had been contracted to perform as part of the 50 Ha experimental farm. The principal experimental agricultural product was sugar cane, but other crops such as maize were included. The farm was being managed by a British expatriate, Mike Wright along with his local counterpart, Aboubakar Yakouba. There were approximately 150 workers on the farm when I arrived, and the farm office was a hut with thatched walls and roof on a frame of branches from some trees that had been cut down. For all of 1979, I was the only construction expat and the Civil Engineer responsible for designing and constructing the infrastructure for the farm, including office, laboratory, workshop, diesel plant, storage, housing, roads, drains and irrigation. I hired and managed a group of up to 150 construction workers and others, and designed and had constructed various infrastructure projects on site. The construction group consisted of a buyer, clerks, construction supervisor, foremen, skilled and unskilled labour. Most of the heavy equipment was rented with operators from other contractors working in the area and from the municipality. At that time, one of the most limiting problems was lack of telecommunications. We could call around the city but not out, even with an operator. Then after a few months, we heard that we could now dial direct to North America. I tried it and my wife, who was on vacation in Montreal, answered. Amazing! Nowadays, we expect cell phone and internet coverage.

Agrilagdo - Cameroon