MAITRE OLIVER CHI: THE MAN BEHIND THE BALI-DIKOLO MARRIOTT HOTEL PROJECT
Until the 7th of June, little was known about the person or persons behind the Marriott Hotel project that has seen several families of the Bali-Dikolo community of the Douala 1 district being displaced from their homes.
During a special set organized this Tuesday, June 7, 2022, on Vision 4, a TV channel operating from Yaounde, Cameroon's political capital, Mr. Oliver Chi Nouako, the promoter of the Mariott hotel explained why he remained silent since the beginning of this case.
WHO IS OLIVER CHI?
Olivier Chi Nouako is a lawyer registered with the Cameroon bar and the owner of a company called Immigration and Business Canada (IBC). His company is a gateway for Cameroonians wishing to go to Canada, a destination of opportunity for many compatriots.
His father is from Santa in the Northwest and his mother is from Bana in the West region of Cameroon. Maitre Oliver Chi Nouako attended secondary school in French in Yaoundé at the François Xavier Vogt College.
WHAT DOES HE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE FORCED DISPLACEMENT OF THE INHABITANTS OF BALI-DIKOLO?
During the program, the businessman maintained that the majority of the people who were evicted from Dikolo are in favor of the construction of the 5-star hotel complex.
"45 families out of the 63 evicted mention that they are in favor of the hotel project. They support the agreement with the chieftaincy and do not recognize the people who are in the media and write to the government to say that they do not agree with the project," he said.
He added that he has just arrived in Cameroon and met the evacuees in Douala who say they do not recognize the people who walk around on TV and act on their behalf to say that people are not in favor of the project.
HOW DID MAITRE OLIVER CHI OBTAIN THE DIKOLO LAND?
By the process of an emphyteutic lease
An emphyteutic lease is a type of real estate contract specifying that the lessee must improve the property with construction.
An emphyteutic lease allows the tenant, called the emphyteutic lessee, to have a real property right. In practice, this means that he is the owner of his dwelling and can dispose of it as he pleases, by carrying out work there for example. The emphyteutic lease consists of a dissociation between the housing and the land.
In concrete terms, the individual (qualified as "emphyteutic lessee") becomes the owner of the walls of his home and the lessee of the land. The emphyteutic lease is given for an extremely long duration of the rental contract. The minimum duration is 18 years in France, but it can vary according to the country of establishment, that of Dikolo is for 50 years.
In the negotiations, the Cameroonian lawyer had spent 2 billion CFA francs.
Thus, on August 10, 2020, his company Immigration and Business Canada signed a long lease of 50 years renewable with the State of Cameroon. The Cameroonian businessman requested 2.5 hectares for his project.
In his journey to obtain his contract, Oliver Chi Nouako met with officials of the Presidency of the Republic, members of the government, and several traditional authorities in Douala. His project aims to improve the hotel offer of the economic capital, particularly by generating more than 700 direct jobs, 50% of which are reserved for women.