A DAM threatens to burst in the far north of Cameroon, endangering about 200000 people in the Maroua district. An administrator, Alexandre Njoya, said the Maga dam, which holds back more than 35-million cubic metres of water destined for irrigation was at risk of cracking because of heavy rains. Those most immediately in danger were the hundreds of people in Maga village, close to the Chadian border, 93 km northeast of Maroua, the prefect added. Water levels behind the dam are reportdely four metres higher than they should be and no repair work on it had been done since 1990, Njoya said. At Zimado, about 200 km farther north, another 10000 people in a rich agricultural zone are in immediate danger because of a rise in the level of the Logone waterway which joins the Chari river there, about 100 km south of Lake Chad. Local officials there have asked for aid from international agencies represented in the area.