SOWEDA's lack of equipment stalls activities

The South West Development Authority (SOWEDA) created in 1987 by a Presidential Decree to spearhead development in the Region is agonizing. Its broken and abandoned equipment namely bulldozers, graders, concrete mixers, water tankers, trucks and many other working tools are just in ruins.

Over 10 heavy duty construction machines are overgrown with grass visibly abandoned and probably waiting for disposal at the SOWEDA pool at the Buea Government Residential Area (GRA) by the road linking the Police Junction to Bokwaongo. Inside sources say the tools have been lying fallow for about two decades now. Sources say spare parts for the machines are not found in the local market.

SOWEDA's General Manager, Dr. Andrew Eneme Ngome, was not available at press time to comment on what is wrong with the equipment, what SOWEDA's plans are over them, and how much they ever cost the State of Cameroon. Technicians who sought anonymity insisted that the equipment could amount to a Billion FCFA and that it never served the Region for up to a decade since they were purchased.

A local politician lamented that President Paul Biya's good intention to salvage the South West from severe enclavement and boost agriculture in the area by creating SOWEDA is being dampened with the rotting machines.

SOWEDA's mission among other things is to develop agriculture in the South West Region, improve rural infrastructure, provide soft loans to community members, and build capacity. One of its specific missions is to create and repair farm-to-market roads. This explains why government invested huge sums to acquire the equipment. Of the 31 Councils in the South West Region, not up to three can boast of a bulldozer for road maintenance and so were expecting to hire the machines from SOWEDA.

There is even a further worry that the machines could make money for SOWEDA at this time that contractors are beating about the bush to finish their construction works on projects to host the up-coming Female Africa Cup of Nations in Buea and Limbe. Many of the contractors have been noticed to lack equipment to hire and speed up work.

SOWEDA is now counting on a recent Performance Contract signed with Government to buy other new equipment. Observers are questioning whether the new equipment when bought will not suffer the same fate? This is because insiders have questioned the maintenance culture in public services and revealed that the SOWEDA machines were known to be sloppily handled. They revealed that even the simplest oil servicing was hardly done in time to safe the tools.