Traders, road users groan as deviation linking Bamenda and Ndop swept off

Business persons transporting goods along the Bamenda – Ndop stretch of the Ring Road in the North West have had a tough time for the past week after a deviation linking Bamessing to Ndop in Ngoketunjia Division collapsed.

Since runoffs swept the dilapidated deviation off the road stretch on Sunday, September 3, vehicles have been unable to travel it.

Locals told MMI that heavy rains caused an overflow, which eroded the road, halting the movement of vehicles between Bamenda, the North West regional capital, and other towns in the Region, including Ndop and Kumbo.

A journalist in the North West Region who traveled to Ndop over the weekend told MMI many traders are frustrated seeing their goods go bad before reaching the market.

People have been managing to use the road thanks to a temporary plank-made bridge that was erected over the eroded road.

Travellers leaving from Bamenda to Ndop, Kumbo, and other towns are forced to alight where they collapsed, and cross on the temporary bridge on foot, before boarding another vehicle to complete their journey.

For those carrying goods, they have had to pay loaders to carry the goods across the temporary bridge to the other side.

“To salvage the situation, a deviation constructed with sticks was erected, but it didn’t last for long since heavy rain waters swept it away, worsening the whole situation. It wasn’t easy on us,” said Tata Desmond, who was returning from Bui Division over the weekend.

“Traders are in deep pain, I saw decomposing bags of Irish potatoes, germinating beans,” the journalist said.

Emergency Measures

As of Sunday, September 10, an excavator was at the site of the incident, creating yet another passage for vehicles while the bridge is being constructed as a permanent remedy.

Traders pay loaders to offload their vehicles and reload them on the other side of the road for other vehicles to be transported to the final destination.

Traders say paying loaders to transport huge quantities of goods across is quite costly, and they cannot sustain it for a long time.

“They charge according to the size and weight of your goods, and they have been making good money. I paid 1,000 francs for a bag containing 10 buckets of Irish potatoes,” said a truck driver.

For traders who have to get porters to transport 30 of such bags across the bridge, this will cost them an extra FCFA 30,000.

SDO blames contractors and separatists.

People had been using a road deviation rather than the main road because separatist fighters reportedly blew off the bridge on the main road.

Rebuilding this bridge linking Bamessing and Ndop has long been part of the government’s agenda.

In 2020, the administration awarded the contract to a road construction company called International Earth Link, and the work was expected to be finalised in 2021. But the bridge has never been rebuilt to date.

The Senior Divisional Officer for Ngoketunjia, Quetong Handerson, said his administration has never seen the contractor who was awarded the project.

He said the contractor collected over 50 percent of the funds budgeted for the work but disappeared and blamed insecurity.

“Why is the contractor running away from state security and allowing the population to suffer?” the SDO wondered in a recent press interview.

“I have never seen the contractor, nor has she ever come to my office,” he added.

He also blamed Ambazonia separatists, who have been fighting against the government since 2017, for attempting twice to destroy the bridge using explosives.

“Separatists started spoiling this bridge by planting two explosives and detonating them on different occasions. We are calling on the population to join us in fighting them because they cannot keep tormenting them. Amba terrorism will not help us in Ngoketunjia,” the SDO said.

He said the present road situation stems from both man-made and natural causes, adding that the rains would not have washed away the road if the contractor had done her job.

Tata Mbunwe and Kate Bih Contributed to this report.