The Bamenda City Council’s City Mayor undertook urgent maintenance of the T Junction to Hospital Roundabout road stretch, passing through the Meta Quarter neighborhood.
This sudden attention to the road, usually overlooked by local authorities, comes in anticipation of the visit by the Minister of Public Health, who is scheduled to attend the 15th Session of the Regional Assembly in Bamenda this Wednesday.
The move has been criticised by local residents, who have long decried the bad state of the roads. Many termed the mayor’s actions as hypocritical and ‘selfish’. “The City Mayor of Bamenda should stop the rolling party hypocrisy,” said Nji, a local taxi driver. “He is maintaining the road because he knows the Minister of Public Health will use it on his way to the Bamenda Regional Hospital.”
The frustrations among residents are general. Many have voiced their concerns on local media for years, with little response by the city Mayor. “We have been crying on the media for years now, but the city council has never responded,” reacted Pa Chi, a 65-year-old resident. “We can say he hates the people of Bamenda,” he added.
While some have appreciated the roadworks carried out on Tuesday, July 23, others argue that the repairs have caused more problems. “Look at the stones they dug from the road, they are all lying there and blocking the waterways,” noted a resident of Meta Quarter, who also highlighted the potential for drainage issues.
The stretch of road in question falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Works, and its poor condition has long been a source of frustration for road users in Bamenda. Nche, another taxi driver, shared his experience, saying, “I spend too much time and money in the garage every week trying to fix faults due to the bad road.”
The Minister of Public Health will not visit Bamenda as guest at the 15th Session of the regional assembly as the session closed on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, but the sudden attention to road maintenance has raised questions about the priorities and responsiveness of local authorities to the needs of the people of Bamenda.
