By Walter Wilson Nana
Emmanuel Nganou Njoumessi, Minister of the Economy, Planning & Regional Development, MINEPAT, is on a tour of Cameroon to look out on the problems stalling the growth and development of the country.
At the Buea stopover, recently, development stakeholders in the Region vomited their all to the MINEPAT boss. Some of the Mayors, Regional Delegates and other participants raised the problems of bad roads, the weird manner in which contracts destined for the construction of roads in the Region are awarded, the bad influence of some elites of the Region who are based in Yaoundé on issues concerning investment projects and budgeting, inadequacies on the recently published population census, the absence of electricity in the rural areas, bad contractors and abandoned projects.
Emmanuel Nganou Njoumessi, Minister of the Economy, Planning & Regional Dev'
Some participants decried the plethora of while elephant projects in the Region, noted that tenders for road construction should indicate that work should take-off in the dry season and not the rainy season, the need for the Community Driven Development Programme, PNDP, to shorten their execution process, persistent corrupt practices, influence peddling, absence of a maintenance culture, especially on the tarred roads, the relevance of effective decentralisation and the rampant creation of schools on papers in the Region.
In reaction to some of the aforementioned worries, Njoumessi said the development of Cameroon is the responsibility of all Cameroonians, while entreating the population to work hard despite the nauseating difficulties they are going through.
The Economy Minister invited development stakeholders in the Region to condemn bad contractors, alert the public on the wrong doings, saying those who embezzle public funds will be charged.
Njoumessi said Cameroonians should not be tired and be afraid of condemning bad practices, adding that measures are underway to track down the bad contractors.
Amongst some of the development projects he enumerated and will take off in the Region in 2013 are; the tarring of the Kumba-Mamfe road, whose funding have been secured from the ADB, the rehabilitation of six markets and the construction of three health centres.
According to the Economy Minister, the government is out to accelerate the country’s growth, which include creating the enabling environment for investments, knowing what kinds of investment prospects to engage into and the necessity to discuss development plans with opinion leaders across the country in a collegiate manner.
He indicated that there are many needs but the means are not always sufficient, hence a participatory approach must be adopted to agree on priority areas for the next three years.
Supported by some of his collaborators, they mentioned that the Southwest Region has the potentials to create wealth. These included; the geographic position of the Region (neighbour to Nigeria), its rich touristic sites, the agricultural activities, fisheries, ports opportunities, offshore oil fields and gas, mining and more.
The Director of Economy in MINEPAT said some FCFA 23 Billion have been disbursed by government to assist development issues in the Region, notably in the areas of roads, hospitals, fishing infrastructure, education and the production sector.
He advised that while the quest to create more wealth is ongoing, it is also important to sustain the already created wealth.
Aladji Magra, Technical Adviser in MINEPAT enjoined Council authorities in the Region to meticulously and in a participatory manner, with opinion leaders in their communities come out with their Communal Development Plans, CDPs. “With your CDPs, you can source for funding nationally and from international bodies,” he said.
The National Coordinator of PNDP, Marie Magdalene Nga said they are out to improve the living conditions of Cameroonians in the rural and urban areas via the sponsorship of micro projects. These, she said are done with the assistance of some technical and funding partners such as the World Bank and the French Development Cooperation.
Nga mentioned that some of their success stories are found in Tiko, Buea, Muyuka and Idenau, all municipalities in the Southwest Region as well as in the Mfou and Monatele Councils respectively in the Centre Region.
She pledged that PNDP will do more in the development of Councils across the country via the execution of their proposed projects.
Earlier, the Mayor of Buea municipality, Charles Mbella Moki made a request for all to be part of Cameroon’s development strategies, reject poverty, especially in the Southwest Region. He appealed that productivity should be stepped up, at a time that the Region is looking forward to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Reunification of Cameroon.
After similar exercises in the Far-North, North, Adamawa, South and Littoral Regions, Nganou Njoumessi is expected to pursue his national tour in the West and Northwest Regions in the days ahead.
