SOWEDA to rehabilitate Bekora-Bafaka road

The 26-kilometre road in Ndian Division will cost CFA 100 million. The South West Development Authority (SOWEDA) will soon embark on mending the 26-kilometre road between Bekora and Bafaka communities in Ndian Division of the South West Region. This will dis-enclave the growing population of the area and enable the evacuation of badly-needed cash and food crops from the localities.

The SOWEDA Board of Directors’ meeting announced the project during its 33 session held recently in Buea. It was also the first ordinary session for this year whereby the new Finance Controller, Claude Koueke, appointed by the Minister of Finance, was introduced.

The Board equally examined the administrative and management accounts of SOWEDA to be submitted to the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court this year. On the agenda for scrutiny by members were the 2014 and 2015 annual reports, among others.

It emerged from the board meeting that a running budget of FCFA 859 million for SOWEDA was approved, with FCFA 700 million allocated by the State on November 28, 2014. SOWEDA’s supervisory authority, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINDER), also maintained its investment budget to the institution at FCFA 300 million to improve production as well as rural infrastructure.

The Chairman of SOWEDA’s Board of Directors, Mbongo Molongo Noah, who chaired the meeting, saw brighter days for the outfit. “Gone therefore are the days of social unrest when former workers and unpaid service providers would storm the office premises and cause disorder because of unpaid bills,” Mbongo Molongo assured.

He rejoiced at the fact that the debts SOWEDA inherited from the defunct Integrated Rural Development Project were now almost entirely paid off. Negotiations too, Mbongo Molongo Noah announced, are ongoing with the Technical Commission for the Rehabilitation of Public Establishments to sign a three-year rehabilitation plan for SOWEDA.

The General Manager of SOWEDA, Dr Eneme Andrew Ngome, disclosed that individuals and Common Initiative Groups (CIGs) have been involved in the production of planting material. He clarified that even though the programme was very expensive, they will follow the roadmap put in place by MINADER to ensure that seedlings are provided to farmers in good quantity and quality this year.