By Tata Mbunwe
Supporters of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party in Buea, in Fako Division of the South West, have petitioned the government over abandoned projects in their community.
In an address presented by the Mayor of Buea, David Mafani Namange, the militants beseeched the government to cause the resumption of construction works of the Buea Referral Hospital, and Low-Cost Housing projects.
These projects, located at the Molyko New Layout area in Buea, have been abandoned since 2018 over claims of insecurity due to the ongoing Anglophone Crisis.
Speaking during the CPDM’s 37th Anniversary celebration in Buea on Thursday, March 24, the Buea Section President of the party, David Mafani Namange, said: “I cannot end this speech without voicing out the grievances raised by some of our supporters over the abandonment of two major projects in Buea to read: the construction of the Buea Referral Hospital and the Low-Cost Housing project in Molyko.
“We are therefore appealing to the government to pressure the contractors to complete the jobs for the interest of the people who are in desperate need of these facilities, which constitute a special gift from the CPDM government and our Head of State, H E President Paul Biya”.
According to Mafani Namange, who is also the Mayor of Buea, the town has become a safe haven for many English-speaking Cameroonians who are fleeing conflict in other parts of the Regions.
Worth FCFA 15 billion, the Buea Referral Hospital, also called the University Teaching Hospital, was expected to become one of the biggest health facilities in the South West Region. The project was launched in May 2017 and was expected to be completed in 18 months.
However, when contractors stopped work in 2018 due to reported attacks by separatist fighters, just 14 percent of the project had been realized.
Adjacent to the Referral Hospital is a FCFA 4 billion-worth Low Cost Housing project, which also lies buried in grass. The project too has been grounded for years now, over insecurity claims.
According to the Head of the Control Mission, Liombe Endeley, the housing project needed just three months of effective work to be completed.
These two projects, located barely one kilometer from the Buea Central Market which has been functioning over the years, have hardly been talked about until recently.
On February 17, 2021, a delegation of Parliamentarians visited the Referral Hospital site during which they evaluated the state of construction and expressed desire for the construction work to resume.
The delegation, led by Hon. Gladys Ikome Etombi and Hon. Findi Stanley, said the South West population had been anxious for the project to materialise, given that the Region had neither a hospital of such magnitude nor a low cost house to meet the needs of its growing population.
However, after the Parliamentary delegation left the site, work did not resume one year later. With relative peace witnessed in Buea, unlike other Anglophone towns, denizens think insecurity should not be an excuse to ground these projects when other construction works are being executed in the town.