Effa Tambenkongho
24 October 2008
Although it is forbidden by the Douala City Council to wash cars around the City, most young men are making a living from this job.
Most young people in the City of Douala struggle to make ends meet. Most of them have engaged in certain jobs where they can earn some money to care for themselves. One of these jobs is to wash cars. The city of Douala has some car washing stations, most of which have been considered as being illegal and forbidden according to the Government Delegate to the Douala City Council, Fritz Ntone Ntone. According to him they do not meet the rules and regulations of setting up a car wash.
According to the Government Delegate, the car washing points are situated where they cause a lot of traffic congestion and hence disorder in the town. Nevertheless, there are a few car washing points which he considers to have met with the regulations. These young men in Douala mostly between the ages of 15 to 25 have come up with spontaneous car washing point. They go to parking lots and wash cars. They hang around car parks and solicit to wash the vehicles when car owners come to park their cars. Sometimes, some of them do not even ask owners of the cars but go ahead to wash the vehicles. And when they see the owner approaching, they would stand by the car hoping to get tip for the job done. Some of them mostly do the job on the outside of the cars while sometimes some car owners stand close by and watch them clean the inner part of their vehicles.
One of the young men who washes cars parked at the parking lodge in front of the Governor's Office said at times they receive as much as FCFA 1000 from a generous persons others sometimes may pay FCFA 200. He added there is no day he goes home with less than FCFA 500. "At least I can take care of myself with this".
But the Government Delegate has classified this job as one of the things that causes urban disorder because they spill water everywhere and make the parking lots or streets to look dirty and uncomfortable to walk through. Ntone Ntone has plans, a city council official told CT, to set up some modern car washing points which will be able to accommodate some of these persons hanging around the streets.
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