As Low-Cost Houses Decay, Government To Construct 200 Others in Buea, Bamenda

The Cameroon government will, as of 2025, construct 200 low-cost houses in Buea and Bamenda, the capital cities of the Southwest and Northwest regions, respectively.

Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute presented the economic report and plans for 2025 to Parliament on Sunday, December 1.

The 200 houses are part of the government’s three-year emergency plan. The plan aims to address the official estimate of the country’s housing shortage at around 2.5 million units.

However, the PM’s report did not delve much into the project.

It also aims to strengthen the national economy and improve the living conditions of the Cameroonian population.

The entire project, of which housing is just one, as of 2017, had raised over 565 billion FCFA.

The state contracts loans from local banking pools and international financial institutions to finance the project.

Structure of Houses

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development reports that eight regions are participating in the project.

It includes 5 ground-floor buildings + 2 with 2 T3 apartments (2 bedrooms + 1 living room) per level; 5 ground floor buildings + 2 with 2 T4 apartments (3 bedrooms + 1 living room); and 12 simple T4 villas.

It has 28 semi-detached villas; 1 primary and nursery school (20 classrooms, 1 library, 1 computer room, 2 restrooms, 1 restaurant); 1 supermarket; and 1 health centre.

The ministry also announced the use of two buildings for public service offices, four locations for street corner equipment (small business), and one sewage treatment plant.

There is also 1 reservation of 2000 m2 of land for the construction of a gendarmerie brigade and 1 reservation of 2000 m2 of land for the construction of a public security police station.

Low-cost houses in Buea, Bamenda, abandoned

As the government pursues the policy to construct 200 houses in Buea and Bamenda, low-cost structures are incomplete.

In other regions, these affordable homes are now operational, but the projects in Buea and Bamenda are still unfinished.

The government has argued that the insecurity in the Northwest and Southwest is responsible for the abandonment of the projects.

Meanwhile, these projects are in the cities where activities are going on hitch-free.

In Buea, for instance, the low-cost houses are located just a few meters away from Molyko, which is the heart of the city.

At Bwitingi, where the houses are, the population lives there and these are places the government said security threats have been resolved.

The government has not yet disclosed the location of the 200 buildings or whether the level of insecurity has decreased.

However, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the projects of 200 houses will be sold once completed.

Mimi Mefo Info