The problem of road transport in the Republic of Guinea in the Mamou region



Transport problems in many cities in developing countries stem from a number of interrelated factors. Indeed, the growth of urban populations and the improvement of household incomes led to an increase in the number of private cars, which subsequently created a greater propensity to travel and caused an increased demand for road networks. In addition, with the expansion of commercial and industrial activity, there is an increasing number of service vehicles in all urban arteries due to the intensification of freight traffic. The increasingly spread morphology of many cities has also led to increased demand for roads, which translates into longer journeys, more congestion, ever more fuel consumption, and therefore pollution. Guinea, like other African countries, faces huge problems in the functioning of the transport sector, including lack of regulation, air pollution, traffic jams, degradation of the road network, etc. Despite its fame as a crossroads city, the populations of the city of Mamou experience real difficulties in their daily movement of which 75 % is done on foot especially inside the city. In addition, accessibility to certain areas of the city remains a problem, contributing to the increase in the cost of Transportation. It should be noted, the transport sector in this city is dominated by the informal. The general purpose of this article is to diagnose the transport system in the city of Mamou and explore happy prospects for qualitatively improving the mobility of its citizens. Specifically, the study focuses on an examination of the transport sector in terms of: organization; Operation. Infrastructure and equipment; Environmental Protection.

Key word s : road degradation; the profitability of the sector; the organization of the sector

Transport is one of the essential elements of socio-economic growth and development. Transport infrastructure and services are the main vehicle for economic integration, the prerequisite for trade facilitation and the movement of goods and people.

In Africa, transport is part of the basic infrastructure on which exchange opportunities are based, both within the city, between the city and the countryside. However, transport management involves many challenges: the regulation and pricing of public transport, the complexity of transport demands in relation to supply. Moreover, since the end of the 1980s, the urban transport landscape in African cities has changed significantly, with as an element marking the gradual disappearance of large companies structured as a result of the various restructuring plans or more often of liquidation. In several African capital cities, private enterprises in the craft (or informal) sector have gradually occupied the space vacated by structured enterprises. On the other hand, the existing transport routes and Means were oriented towards a totally extroverted trade hence the weak development of infrastructure, transport services and the limited physical integration of the network.

In Guinea, the biggest challenge remains improving the mobility of urban dwellers and the efficiency of transport systems. In many cities, the number of private cars is still low and land use patterns are still changing rapidly. The issue of travel is still considered secondary in most of our cities. It comes long after issues of health, education, access to water and sanitation. Yet more and more large cities, including Mamou, are facing Real transport and traffic difficulties that influence development as a whole. These include: The deterioration of roads; the dilapidation of means of transport; the profitability of the sector; the organization of the sector; the advent of motorcycles taxis in most inland cities; traffic jams; traffic accidents; air Pollution; the lack of road signs.

A «crossroads» city of Guinea, Mamou is not immune to these problems related to the mobility of its population. The transport system in this city as it operates today generates important negative externalities: increased congestion of urban traffic, high level of accidents, air pollution, degradation of roads etc.

In the face of such a situation, one might wonder, apart from the decentralisation process started in December 1991 (1), what support is needed for this transport sector in order to make it more effective, more efficient and with a view to sustainability? To achieve this, this article analyzes in three (3) parts:

The city of Mamou is located about 275 Km from the capital Conakry, bounded to the North by the CRD of Bouliwel and Tolo, to the Northeast by that of Dounet, to the Southeast by that of Soyah, to the West by that of Konkouré. The city of Mamou is located in the heart of Guinea on the National Conakry — Mamou — Kankan; Conakry-Mamou-Labé and Conakry-Mamou-N'zérékoré hence its name City Crossroads. The city has the characteristic of the physiognomic summary of all the ethnic groups of Guinea, its population is 93,304 inhabitants of which: 44,800 men and 48,504 women spread over an area of 674.32 km2. The population density is 64 per km2 and the taxable population is 14,416. The city of Mamou has twenty three (23) districts and five (5) districts.

The current population of the city of Mamou comes from the mix of several ethnic groups, the main of which are: the Fulani: it is the most important ethnic group in terms of number; the Malinke; the subsous. Other ethnic groups were added. These are among others: the kissians, the Tomas, the Guerzes, the Lebanese who came for the needs of the Land Development Administration and the operation of the Conakry — Niger railway. The city of Mamou, therefore presents a real mosaic of ethnic groups with a very large Fulani predominance because the dominant language is the pular.

The geographical position of Mamou compared to other natural regions of Guinea, gives it the privilege of being an important commercial center. There is a central market conducive to trade between local producers and consumers. These exchanges generally concern foodstuffs. Agricultural products, pickings, building materials, veterinary articles and other miscellaneous goods. This central market suffers from lack of development, maintenance and protection although it plays the role of main source of revenue ensuring the local development of the city

Transport comes in second last position with only 3 %. Spending on urban mobility therefore occupies an important place despite the self-restriction of households on this mode of transport and the massive use of walking. Thus, according to the results of the field survey, the poor in the city of Mamou spent an average of 19 % of their resources on travel, compared with 12 % for well-off households. This type of expenditure can represent up to 30 % of income for one in 4 poor households.

Today, the city of Mamou has three bus stations namely: the Central Bus Station, The Cannery and the Conakry bus station. It should be noted that these bus stations have suffered from poor management for several decades. However, if the resources generated by these bus stations were well managed, this would undoubtedly contribute to the improvement of the transport sector in the city through the rehabilitation of roads, the financing of micro projects related to transport including signage etc.

The tax revenue collected on passenger transport activities is mainly based on the tax on vehicles and motorcycles taxis. They are all the more so because the artisanal transport sector, which is poorly controlled by the authorities, very often manages to free public levies. This has the consequence of significantly limiting the movable resources for the organization of the sector (2).

Table 1

Revenue from the different bus stations in Mamou

Bus station	Many years
	2017	2018	June 2019
Cannery station	24480000	24480000	122440000
Central Station	33600000	5400000	2700000
Conakry railway station	33600000	5400000	2700000
Total	91.680.000	132.480.000	66.240.000

Table 2

Amount paid to the Union by drivers after loading their taxi at the cannery bus station

Stretch	Type of vehicle	Amount paid in GNF	Number of vehicles / day	Cost of Transportation / person
Mamou- Labé	Berline	2500	6	26000
	Familiare	4000
Mamou -Dabola	Berline	2500	5	26000
	Familiare	4000
Mamou — Kankan	Berline	4000	2	70000
	Familiare	7000
Mamou — Siguiri	Berline	4000	4	95000
	Familiare	70000

Table 3

Amount paid to the Union by drivers after loading their taxi at Conakry station

Stretch	Type of vehicle	Amount paid in GNF	Number of vehicles / day	Cost of Transportation / person
Mamou- Conakry	Berline	8000	10	35000
	Familiare	9000
Mamou -Kindia	Berline	8000	9	20000
	Familiare	9000
Mamou — Faranah	Berline	8000	5	35000
	Familiare	9000
Mamou — Kissidougou	Berline	10000	4	60000
	Familiare	12000
Mamou — Gueckedou	Berline	13000
	Familiare	14000	3	90000
Mamou — N'Zérékoré	Berline	15000
	Familiare	18000	2	140000

A comparative reading of Tables 2 and 3 shows that the Conakry bus station is more advantageous in terms of efficiency and frequency.

Cannery bus station

The roads of the city, mainly made up of roadways apart from the National n°1 is in a state of very extensive degradation. However, the city of Mamou, benefiting from the contract cities of the interior program under the PDU3, gradually sees its road rehabilitation.

The city of Mamou received a donation from the Guinean government to maintain urban roads. The work will cover a distance of 10.5 km for a financing of 22.337.566.747 FG. This project started on October 13, 2017 and the contract period is 3 years.

The company responsible for carrying out the work is ENCO 5 a Russian company. Today, in financial terms, activities are at 5 % evolution. This contract is likely to be Mamou's biggest road maintenance contract. Usually, maintenance was provided by the urban municipality with funds from the communities.

Table 4

Distribution of 10.5 Km by bitumen section

Stretch	Distance
Shell-Kimbely crossroads in the Kimbely district	1300
Kebeya — RN1	800
Defox — Camp Militaire au quartier Abattoir	200
Camp-exit to Faranah	1700
RN1 — Kimbely	400
Boulbinet — RN1	800
Camp-TELICO University	1900
Cannery-Prefectural Land	200
SEEG-Sabou district	600
Almamya mosque-commercial crossroads	400
Almamya-Cannery	200
TP-Mamou Police Station	800
Union office-Prefectural Hospital	400
Defox-military Camp in the slaughterhouse district	400
Carrefour Loppé — Primary School Loppé	300

The main dysfunctions of the urban transport sector in Mamou are due to: insufficient regulation and inadequate control of this regulation; poorly controlled access to the urban transport profession which contributes to the disorganization of the transport system and constitutes a financial shortfall; a certain confusion of roles between the Union and the Union of carriers which, despite the transfer of management of bus stations to the unions continues to surface. The subdivision that seems clear at first glance of an organization that defends the right of wages with an employer organization as a counterpoint is in fact not at all in fact; a repair of blurred skills in terms of transport and investment; insufficient fiscal resources; limited means both in financial, human or managerial capacities; the proliferation of motorcycle taxis.

The transport offer is completely informal, there is no structured company in charge of urban transport in Mamou. The result is a lack of network planning and prioritization. There are still associations of motorcycle taxi drivers that operate throughout the city. Motorcycle taxis largely dominate the transport offer in the city of Mamou and compete on most lines. Auto taxis are marginal (3).

The exploitation of the different modes is similar. The operators are all private and the regulation is done at the terminal level by the carriers themselves. Revenue is directly linked to revenue / km driven which encourages carriers to leave only once loaded. The commercial speed of the different modes has large disparities.

Motorcycles taxis with the possibility of accessing even the most landlocked areas have an interesting commercial speed. In operating costs, fuel an overwhelming share, between 70 and 80 % depending on the modes.

Urban transport in the city of Mamou is poorly performing and leads to strong externalities: congestion at junctions, congestion of public roads, pollution, worsening of road insecurity. They are heavily handicapped by anarchic organization, congestion, fuel costs.

The problem of road safety is a problem often raised by Transport actors in Mamou. While the tools for observing road accidents exist, their implementation is not satisfactory. Therefore, there is no reliable statistical data in this area.

However, it can be observed that many conditions of road insecurity are met at Mamou level. The public transport sector is heavily involved in this phenomenon.

An advanced decay of the rolling stock fleet. The state of advanced decay of the rolling stock fleet, both taxis and taxis motorcycles is an acute problem. Some of the vehicles do not meet the minimum safety standards: failed brakes, traffic lights... This decay of vehicles is amplified by their overload in passengers or goods.

Chaotic traffic

As mentioned above, traffic rules are generally not respected, particularly at junctions. Pedestrian flows cut off traffic, and public transport vehicles stop anarchically on the side of the road. This situation exacerbates road safety problems.

Road safety in the city of Mamou is ensured by the police, who are experiencing real difficulties in the correct application of their mission in this sector; this is explained by the lack of adequate manpower and equipment, the lack of parking space, the reluctance of the users of the sector to the rules of good conduct and the lack of rigor in the control.

Investigations carried out as part of this research revealed the lack of regulatory compliance of vehicles and motorcycles in circulation in Mamou:

− 5 % of vehicles do not have a registration certificate;

− 75 % of vehicles do not have insurance certificates;

− 15 % of drivers do not have a driver's license;

− 50 % of vehicles did not have a tax sticker;

− 95 % circulate without technical inspection certificate;

− 90 % of motorcycle taxi drivers drive without a helmet.

The traffic police do not always correctly apply the regulations in force, but this allows it to be interpreted and diverted which is a source of «police annoyance» experienced by drivers, source of tacit arrangements between police and drivers to minimize the fines to be paid. It is a solution that allows carriers to «save» and police to round up the end of the month. The drift of the system is blatant and leads to an organized ransom structure.

The problems of urban transport in Mamou are of great concern due to the lack of adequate road infrastructure and organization. At the neighbourhood level, access is particularly difficult due to the lack of entry routes. Most of the tracks are unpaved side tracks, difficult to drive especially during the rainy season. The anarchic layout of buildings, especially in working-class neighbourhoods, further worsens the situation and involves major relocation operations when building new roads.

Prospects for recovery of the transport sector in the city of Mamou reside at three levels:

The timid recovery of transport companies initiated by the consensus government from the events of January February 2017 through the current SOGUITRANS that connects the capital to several cities in the interior of the country;

The public-private partnership is an alternative to the transport deficit in the city of Mamou. Removing barriers to private sector participation in transport infrastructure improves legal and regulatory frameworks that restrict privatization. There is a growing recognition of the critical importance of establishing public support bodies and creating a healthy regulatory environment to ensure the proper functioning of Public Enterprises. There is growing interest in the crucial role of these institutions in a market economy system and the need to strengthen their supervisory capacity;

In addition, the municipal authorities in Mamou should seek to establish fruitful partnerships with municipalities in developed countries. By this, the city of Mamou could benefit from the projects essential to the development of its basic infrastructure including transport;

The effective and timely implementation of the «interior cities contract» project within the framework of the PDU3;

The construction of a bypass would make traffic more fluid and avoid the passage of large carriers in the city, which de facto reduces accidents;

CADAM's training of motorcycle taxi drivers could significantly reduce the number of accidents related to this type of transport.

In light of this, the following could be recommended:

1) the acceleration of the bitumen of the 10.5 Km promised by the state;

2) an exhaustive census of motorcycle taxi users with a view to their training;

3) the installation of traffic signs in all the arteries of the municipality;

4) the staffing of police personnel at the Urban Police Station of Mamou;

5) rigour in road control;

6) effective implementation of decentralization;

Located about 275 Km from the capital Conakry, the city of Mamou is a busy crossroads for carriers to the interior of the country and sometimes from outside the country. But, this city is experiencing recurring transport problems including among others:

The poor state of the roads; the lack of regulation of the sector; the aging of the city's car fleet; the lack of road control; the lack of training of drivers of motorcycle taxis and pollution of the environment. To overcome this situation which affects the mobility of the citizens of this city, it is essential to carry out reforms both at local and national level. These include:

At the local level, to strengthen control in the transport sector;

At the national level, to direct huge investments in the transport sector as this is supposed to stimulate urban growth thus contributing to a significant reduction of poverty in this city. These investments would help improve the quality of infrastructure (4).

However, the mobilization of the necessary resources for the realization of these investments necessarily involves the assistance of international financing institutions. However, for several years our country has faced serious difficulties in terms of mobilizing external resources. Therefore, any research focused on ways to revive Guinea's transport sector through investment would produce positive effects in terms of poverty reduction in that country. What issues?

References:

1. Bastie (J.) — Dezert (B.): L'espace Urbain, Masson, PARIS, 1980, 383 P.
2. Cabane (C.) et AL: lexicon of human and economic geography. Dalloz, Paris, 1984, 427 P.
3. Demur (C): «urban transport in Abidjan», in urban growth in Black Africa and Madagascar. Paris, C. N. R. S., 1972, pp. 501–524.
4. Kengne Fodouop: «Les transports routiers dans la province De L'ouest au Cameroun», in Revue géographique du Cameroun-Vol. 2', n° 1, 1981, pp. 1–11.