Stakeholders step up efforts to solve traffic and environmental issues in Bamenda

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

The most shouting problems of every urban space in Cameroon are traffic, garbage, sewage and infrastructure related in nature. While these problems are intertwined, some stakeholders in Bamenda like the City Council, the Bamenda one, two and three councils among others have not only identified these problems but have gone ahead to actually do something about them.

 Speaking on these issues in an interview with Cameroon People, a few years back Vincent Nji Ndumu, Government Delegate to the Bamenda City Council said “We have done a lot for this city and I think it’s just a question of being a little bit patient. If you want to talk about the road infrastructure, we know that the World Bank is finalizing their documentation for a tender to be done for the Babadjou-Bamenda road and also about 15 Kilometers of a dual carriage way within the city of Bamenda. In so doing, it will take care of about 75% of the difficult parts of our roads within the city. I also know that Bamenda has been enlisted within the third phase of the French debt relief. I know that it is something that is going to take a little bit of time but the fact that we’ve been enlisted gives us hope that when they come, our road infrastructure projects will be carried out. I also know and we are presently doing it that within our project of upgrading of inner city roads with double surface dressing we will be able to have about 30 Km of road by the end of 2017 that will facilitate movement within the inner city of Bamenda. I also know that we have a programme for labour intensive projects of maintaining earth roads within the city council that will start in 2017. Given the fact that we have decided that in 2017 HYSACAM is going to come and take care of collecting of garbage, it therefore means that we will transfer our energy and our resources towards actually upgrading even the earth roads in the city of Bamenda. I equally know that the Chinese are presently investing something like 10 billion FCFA on increasing and transporting water within the neighborhoods of Bamenda. I know very well that the Bamenda City Council has initiated the public private partnership programme to be able to take care of some infrastructures like the main market and the Nkwen Market as well as the construction of a Central Bus station using the same public private partnership scheme. With all these I think the future can only be bright. All we need is to be patient and accept that our needs are many but our means are few.” (https://cameroonpeople.blogspot.com/2016/08/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html)

Road Linking Azire Old Church and Regional Hospital (Bda II)

 

Meantime on the ground in the Bamenda II Council, Balick Awa Fidelis and his team have carried out very ambitious initiatives in the domain of easing traffic related problems. When contacted, Mayor Balick Awa Fidelis said they had opened up 11 roads within Bamenda II with an intention of easing traffic flow within the city. A survey carried out by this reporter noted that among the most strategic of these roads were firstly, the link from Elecam in Bamenda II through Ntamulung to GBHS Bamenda. This link the mayor said reduces traffic congestions from Ngeng Junction and on Sonac Street. Secondly, in another part of the city, the link from Azire Old Church to the Bamenda Regional Hospital has greatly liberated the ever congested Hospital Roundabout and the Mbengwi Park area. Lastly, the link from CAMCCUL Head Office through Merry Land Printing Press to Garage Le Progress in Atu-Azire has greatly deviated traffic from the ever-busy Hospital Round About.

Meantime Mayor Fongu Cletus and his team in Bamenda III have successfully put in place a portable water supply network that now supplies water through its public taps. Its road projects have provided tarred roads linking the Mile Four Junction and the Council premises. Another tarred road now links Mile Four Junction to GBHS Atiela. The far reaching effects of these roads apart from providing road infrastructure has been the solving of the problem of dust especially in dry seasons.

Challenges faced by these development stakeholders in the City of Bamenda include the low rate of revenue collection in the face of the present Socio-Political Crises in the two English Speaking Regions of Cameroon. 

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