The General Manager of the Cameroon Development Corporation, Chief Henry Njalla Quan, has said the corporation will no longer entertain incompetent managers.

"There is no space in CDC for poor performance. Henceforth, anybody who fails in his duty should not think he would be moved to a new post. He would have to leave," Njalla Quan said.

Njalla was speaking at the Mbonge Rubber Estate, on Saturday, December 18, during this year's session of the corporation's bi-annual gatherings, usually convened to enable the management staffers re-examine their activities and make new plans and strategies for continuity.

The GM noted that lack of commitment, collaboration and ingenuity on the part of many a manager was causing the CDC a great loss.

"We have to review our commitment to the Corporation, be a people who are forward-looking â-oemanagers who manage people and not sentiments. A new CDC must be born out of this meeting," he stressed.

As a way forward, Njalla said henceforth, each of the 18 estates of the CDC shall have to produce enough to enable it pay for all its expenses and pay those of the Head Office.

He was speaking on grounds that other estates have simply, for some reasons, been surviving at the expense of other hard working ones.

"I will from 2006, remove banana from CDC's general budget. Every crop is supposed to be self sustaining."

In the rubber crop sector, Njalla said there was a dire need for CDC to have a new and well-designed factory that is capable of producing quality and marketable rubber.

Meanwhile, in the oil palms sector, he said more cultivation was very much needed.

In the social service sectors of the Corporation, he expressed dissatisfaction with the medical department.

"There is need for an immediate change in the medical department. You cannot be responsible for the health of 14, 000 workers and afford to do some of the things you do."

Before the close of the meeting a four-man Drug Management Committee, with Ambrose Fonge as chair, was set up to henceforth handle the purchase and distribution of drugs within the corporation.

This committee was put up at the backdrop of incessant complaints of drugs always not available whereas the GM said the corporation has been making huge financial provisions for drugs.

Grave HIV/AIDS Situation

Statistics provided during the session by Dr Fidelis Epah showed that the HIV/AIDS level among CDC workers is very high.

Of those tested so far at the Tiko Cottage Hospital this year, Dr. Epah said the rate of infection stands at 17 percent.

Meanwhile 2003 alone recorded a 57.9 percent zero positive rates for those tested. In 2002, the percentage of zero positive persons was 42.5 percent up from 32.7 percent in the previous year, 2001.

"HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to be a great drain of the CDC staff. Many new cases of infection continue to be discovered." Dr Epah stated.

The Doctor who was reporting on the work of the Corporation's anti AIDS Committee activities for the year, said further that cases of other sexually transmitted diseases were also very high.

But Njalla said he was not satisfied with the work of the committee. "There must be an annual programme outline for the committee and its execution must be extremely active." He called on the committee members to henceforth provide his office with a monthly report of their activities.

Appointments

The GM announced some new appointments with the creation of a new department: Plan and Development, to be headed by David Matike.

In a word of welcome earlier, the Manager of Mbonge Estate, Victor Eyassa, said he believed solutions to CDC's problems could only come from among themselves. In a flashback, he said Mbonge Estate was opened in 1947 with bananas as its first crop.

In 1963, the rubber cultivation became the new option and bananas were let go.