Cameroon: Bikoro Sinking Shipyard

Just when it seemed Cameroon Shipyard Project's news couldn't possibly get worse, the government dropped a bombshell. Not only, as many suspected, did the shipyard slip into a recession, its first since Zaccheus Forjindam was sacked as its General Manager. But reports leaking out reveal that Antoine Bikoro, who rode high on
the shoulders of Chantier Naval workers to replace Forjindam, seems bent only on sinking the shipyard.
Any hopes that the shipyard could still pull its clients even without Forjindam who had baited them, have been quashed by Bikoro's draconian management style.The news of strikes capped the shipyard's tumultuous last year. Its rapidly waning reputation and competence have not only provoked fears of a fresh round of a debilitating crisis, but a possible blackout.
If there is any light at the end of the tunnel, it has yet to reach the demoralized workers and potential clients. "We are suffering," mourns a shipyard worker, "recovery is not a given."
Our sources say temporary workers (welders) are paid FCFA 750 an hour instead of the FCFA 1500 stipulated by the National Labour Code. In fact, there are worries that Bikoro is throwing a lead weight to the shipyard instead of a life jacket.
"During Forjindam's tenure, we were fed, transported and accommodated. On top of these, we enjoyed FCFA 12,000 as out-of-station allowance. In fact, if they sent you to Limbe in those days, you just knew that you had struck it rich. But all that is gone with Forjindam. Bikoro doesn't care a damn; we transport, feed ourselves and pay for our accommodation," lamented another worker.
With such pregnant storm clouds, one would expect a glimmer of silver lining somewhere on the horizon, but the shipyard seems to be slipping further into murky waters. And Bikoro seems to be busily steering the shipyard in that direction.
The feeling is a sinking one. The shipyard, once a buoyant enterprise, is now a watery graveyard. Workers recruited by Forjindam are depressed, underpaid and spited. Most of them have been fired and replaced by recruits from Yaounde and elsewhere.
"For a while we basked in euphoria" says a welder, "but it was short lived. Bikoro promised us better pay and better working conditions. But the shipyard is now a graveyard. In fact, it seems we got rid of a horse and got an ass instead. Put everything together, and what do we get? A sinking ship."
The view is gloomy on the downward slope of the shipyard's recession. Says another worker: "Our working conditions have deteriorated. For us welders particularly, we are not well paid according to the statute that Yaounde knows. We are paid according to our qualifications; all the welders don't have the same level.
We have something called homologation. When you are homologated for instance on 4G, you are supposed to be paid as from FCFA 1500 per hour; known by Yaounde. But now, we 4G welders are being paid FCFA 650. But at first, when Forjindam was the boss, he was paying us FCFA 550 and he was giving us one meal a day.
Meanwhile, Chantier Naval was being paid FCFA 1500 for a plate of food. When there was food, we ate; but whenever food was short or there was a strike, we were paid FCFA 800, so you can see that FCFA 700 found its way to unknown destination!"
While the Douala shipyard is yawing, an offshore worker in Limbe said a few weeks ago, a barge started sinking at the Limbe port. "We called and screamed that a barge was sinking. Bikoro just waved his hand in the air. The barge sank. Now it is lying in 16 metres of salt water. And that is pollution. Bikoro doesn't seem to have a mind to develop the shipyard," he adds.
Diminishing Stores
Alas, fundamentals aren't what they used to be. The stores of materials are rapidly depleting because Bikoro is only using what Forjindam bought and not minding to replenish them.
According to our sources, Forjindam had stockpiled materials such as electrodes, plates, anti-rust paint. But since he left, they say, Bikoro has been using what Forjindam bought without replenishing them.
As we write this report, there is a ship (Vicky Socado) docked at Chantier Naval, Douala, for repairs and the workers are asking its captain to provide repair materials. This, to them, could never happen in Forjindam's time.
And only after much beseeching and sometimes "motivating" the workers. Most of the time, the repairs take too long and sometimes the ships, not finding Forjindam to welcome them, turn and steam away.
The shipyard's crisis is unique. Bikoro is very much in question. His workers say he is never in his office. "He is either leaving France for America, America to Switzerland looking for jobs which we don't see coming. We have just minor jobs. And the few jobs coming in were jobs earlier contracted by Forjindam. And when the big ones that he had arranged come and don't meet him, they leave."
Our sources say technicians are leaving by the day for other countries. According to them, Bikoro has begun the downfall of the shipyard. One worker recalls that in Forjindam's time, there were about 700 welders, but now they don't know how many are left.
Recently, according to one Chantier Naval worker, the office of the welding department was burgled and several homologation certificates were stolen. The technicians who stole them are said to be all over the continent looking for better paid jobs.
Says another worker; "I hardly see my General Manager, he is always out of the country trying to canvass for jobs, but he seems not to be succeeding. You see, before Forjindam was locked up, Bikoro already existed in Chantier Naval as Assistant Director of Finance. You can see he has nothing to do with technical work."
With Forjindam gone to quod, Bikoro seems to be getting away with shenanigans and most of the workers The Post spoke to seem to miss Forjindam. "You know, we can say that Forjindam was the author of Chantier Naval. He did technical education and he was known all over the country and abroad," says a shipyard worker, "so he managed Chantier Naval with technical know-how. He went round to technical schools and picked out the best five welding students, pipe fitters and recruited and trained them. In this way, he recruited more than 200 students, but they all not there now.
"When Forjindam was around, Chantier Naval was always busy with ships coming and going. But since Bikoro was appointed General Manager with no technical background, we have been suffering. There are permanent and temporary workers; whenever a job comes in, the permanent workers are given priority. As for temporary workers, they may only call them. This means they can dump you at will.
"Chantier Naval is like a graveyard. We have been having strike upon strike, because Bikoro is reigning. Immediately he took over, he started recruiting people from his tribe as security men. He gives them a month or less and employs them on a permanent basis," says one of the disgruntled workers, adding that they are arrogant, boastful and abusive.
According to some of the workers, Bikoro's recruits call Anglophone Chanter Naval workers "Bamenda." "Ca c'est notre maison. C'est ne plus votre maison. Votre pere et deja partir. Maintenant, c'est nous les Yaounde. Je suis arrive and je fait seulement un mois, on m'ambuse; je fait quoi?" (Loosely translated; this is our house, it is no longer your house your godfather has left. I have been here only one month and I have already been promoted for doing nothing) is what Bikoro's recruits purportedly tell the Anglophone workers.
Apparently, Bikoro's recruits are graded very highly and are equally paid very highly. And according to the disgruntled workers, there are security men all over the shipyard; more than the company needs.