Cursed or abandoned?: North West roads in sorry state

The North West Region of Cameroon is among the top three regions that swell the treasury of the country annually.

Paradoxically, this region has one of the poorest road infrastructure in the country, critics have alarmed.

With the rainy season around, the woos of the road network are revealed.

The Babadjou-Bamenda road, lone secure access way into the region under construction left many stranded this morning with some passengers trekking their way to Bamenda.

While this happened at the entrance to the region, roads within the region linking its seven divisions and towns have no better story to tell.

The Bamenda-Bambili road, National road number 11 which is the road that connects 3 divisions (Ngoketunjia, Bui and Donga Mantung) to the regional capital was temporary cut off yesterday evening following a heavy downpour.

This road which was last tarred in the late 90s has been under rehabilitation on a 2KM stretch between Four Corners Bambui and Three Corners Bambili.

Construction works on this stretch by Edge Construction Company began in October 2020 and has since been progressing at a snail pace.

National road number 11 is one of the most used roads in the region with huge economic activities taking place along the road.

Kedjom Ketingu (Small Babanki), a locality in Tubah is a hub for huckleberry production sending loads of this vegetable to major cities in the country including Douala and Yaoundé.

Huckleberry is a major delicacy to Cameroonians especially those from the North West Region.

This road is access way to tea plantations in Ndawara and Ndu, Upper Noun Valley Development Authority, UNVDA in Ndop producing rice, and the road is used to transport heavy weight equipment on almost a daily basis.

“Having the road passable round the year would ensure fluidity of economic activities in the region, boost employment and profitability for farmers as activities here serve not just Cameroonian markets but also Nigeria and Gabon with agricultural produce”, Divine, a buyam-sellam in Bamenda said.

Cutting off transportation to this part of the country, pundits say is cutting off a source of livelihood for thousands of households.