In order to further strengthen the relationship between the town and the port of Kribi, and to ease its acceptance by the indigenous population, the Kribi socio-economic support program (PASEK) was established. This support program specifically aims to create a dynamic alliance of port and city stakeholders around common objectives.
The program requires key actors of the port community to ally themselves in addressing the challenges to sustainable development of the locality. It could be seen as a co-construction exercise that consists in providing solutions that go beyond the provision of resources and also offers a framework for consultation and permanent reflection in order to find solutions adapted to identified needs.
The PASEK program has six components; health, education, improvement of people’s well-being, cultural promotion, conservation and preservation of the ecosystem, and safety and security.
- Under the health component, actions such as rehabilitation and construction of health facilities, and construction of boreholes are undertaken serving the objectives of SDG 3.
- For the education component, actions that are carried out include the construction and rehabilitation of schools (SDG 4), promotion of academic excellence via scholarships, and provision of wage subvention to temporary teachers.
- Regarding the improvement of people’s well-being component, actions such as, improving access to potable water via the construction of wells (SDG 6), and provision of support for the development of the local economy (e.g. fishing, agriculture), are undertaken.
- The cultural promotion component revolves around sponsorship of inclusive cultural and sporting events.
- The conservation and preservation of the ecosystem component deals with taking action against the degradation of ecosystems, creation of marine parks, protection of marine turtles (SDG 14), and reforestation of coastal areas (SDG 15).
- The safety and security component aims to provide multi-faceted support to law enforcement and security forces.