Babungo-Misaje road to gulp FCFA 31 bln

The abrupt stop of works on the ring road project in the North West Region is raising much dust among supposed beneficiary communities located on that road.

The road construction company, SOGEA SATOM, charged with the tarring of the Babungo-Kumbo stretch has backed out of the project site, leaving patches of uncompleted works on the road.

According to the Follow-up Committee Chair for public investment projects in Bui, Hon Kwe Andrew, the government allocated FCFA 3 billion last year for the completion of the works yet nothing was done and the company is saying nothing to the beneficiary population.

SDF Member of Parliament for Jakiri, Hon Wirba Joseph, was emphatic that the present state of the road is serving as a death trap for commuters and warrants immediate remedy by the concerned construction company.

To add salt to injury, no allocation was made in the 2016 budget for the ring road tarring project. Last year information circulated that the emergency budget initiated by the Head of State was to tar 50 kilometres from Kumbo to Nkambe but today allocation is made but for maintenance not tarring.

Presently, works are ongoing rather on the Babungo, Oku, Nkor to Misaje stretch which is described as the ring road corridor or better still feeder road. The project to tar this stretch is jointly funded by the Cameroon government in partnership with a Canadian funding body.

Upon completion, this project would gulp FCFA 31 billion. Though many see the abrupt stop of work on the ring road as abandonment by government, one of the accused, a CPDM guru who said to have diverted ring road funds to the Babungo-Misaje road, Dr. Fuh Calistus, Secretary of State for Mines, Industries and Technological Development, insists that government is still sourcing for funding to continue the work given that Prime Minister Yang has peculiar interest in the ring road project.

In a picture presentation during the PIB follow-up committee members during the fourth quarter meeting, the Divisional Delegate of the Economic Planning and Regional Development for Bui, Chief Dominic Asaah, drew the attention of participants to the realities in the field.

The committee denounced some bad practices by contractors such as the use of inferior material for projects rendering such as deathtraps upon completion. Some constructed structures have collapsed in just a few years of use. Some projects were abandoned and others poorly done.

The issue about boreholes unrealized came to the fore and stakeholders were reminded that most of this borehole projects were transformed into small water schemes at various council areas. In all in 2015 PIP Bui had FCFA 928 million worth of projects and has recorded 90% in the realization of the 97 operations with 9 projects still ongoing.