The Bamenda University of Science and Technology, BUST, has presented some proposed solutions to the management of disaster in developing countries.
This was during a scientific conference that took place at the institution auditorium on Friday, November 28. The conference was hinged on the theme; “Advance In Research on Disaster Management in Developing Countries.”
Presenting on how disasters could be managed by communities, Varsity dons drawn from the Universities of Buea, Bamenda and researchers from BUST suggested that policy makers and Government should adopt the bottom-top approach for the prevention and management of disasters.
Acknowledging the enormous contributions made by sponsors of the conference like the Volkswagen Stiftung Foundation in Germany, the Vice Chancellor of BUST, Professor Mathew Gwanfogbe, said BUST is one of the pioneer private higher institutes in Cameroon, which is concerned with the management of disaster.
According to him, research on disaster management is in line with the institution’s objective of focusing on development related research as a fundamental component of its training programmes.
Prof. Gwanfogbe, explained that there are evidences that natural disasters are increasing. “If you are observant, you would have noticed that the rainy seasons have become exceptionally longer in the last 5years, especially in the Northwest Region.
The frequency of floods has tremendously increased Worldwide. These natural calamities are compounded by societal decay, ethnic conflicts and terrorist activities. Examples within our reach include; the Babessi floods of 2012, the ongoing ethnics conflicts in Central Africa Republic and the terrorists attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon,” Prof. Gwanfogbe noted.
He said these issues raise new Challenges not only to the Government and communities, but also to Scientists.
Prof. Gwanfogbe said these worrying situations provoked questions such as; which factors perpetuate such events, how vulnerable are communities to the consequences of disasters, what strategies are implemented to mitigate or cope with such disasters, what tools and frameworks are best suited for researchers to model households and communities suffering from the effects of natural disasters and why are disasters different.
BUST VC informed researchers that the doors of his institution are opened and that they are willing to support them to engage in meaningful research as has been the case with the researcher on managing risks and shocks in developing countries for three years.
BUST Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academics said, before his demise, the Founder of BUST Dr. John Ngu Foncha, instructed the university to focus on research. “That is why we are starting with what is around us and we shall go beyond Cameroon.”
According to Dr. Innocent Ndoh Mbue, the consequences of floods and others disasters are not only deadly, but costly. He maintained that researchers are building resilience to droughts and floods.
In his presentation, Prof. Emmanuel Yenshu’s disclosed that areas like Limbe and others are high-risk zones and fears that such zones may one day seize to exist.
“There are possibilities that towns like Limbe, Buea and others in the North regions can sink in future because of their vulnerability.”
Dr. Roland Balgah Azibo, one of the Researchers said, their research was focused on Cameroon so that communities can handle disasters before external help. “We are building a strong data bank that can be useful to the Government and communities as well as NGO’s and policy makers to handle disasters in future.”
