Councillors and Grand Councillors of Bamenda II & III Councils have protested agains indiscriminate land reclamation in the city.
The protest, led by the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, the Mayors of Bamenda II &III Councils and Councillors bagan on Monday, August 17, when the protestors stormed a construction site at Mile Four, contesting the use of a parcel of land by Fokou Company, located along the Bamenda-Bambui Highway.
The protesters carried placards with messages like; “We say no! to the reclamation of marshy lands in Bamenda”, “No to the issuance of building permits on marshy lands,” and so on.
The Mayor of Bamenda III Council told reporters that they are protesting against the non-respect of Land Tenure Laws, which forbid anyone from building on marshy areas.
The SDF Chair and Councillors stated, “We are not against the development of Bamenda, but against the hazardous use of marshy areas, which have, recently, resulted in floods in Mulang, Musang, Below Foncha and the Mile Four area, and has led to the death of scores of innocent citizens.”
Fru Ndi said, if Fokou is allowed to go ahead with the construction of the company near the stream, in future, the company will empty toxic waste into the stream and the consequences would be hazardous.
According to Mayor Cletus Fongu Tangwi, there is a recent mad rush in occupying all marshy areas in Bamenda that, if left unchecked, it would spell doom for the city.
“We are here to express our disdain on the recent urban disorder in Bamenda. If we do not create awareness for all the stakeholders, it will endanger the city and its inhabitants. We protest the issuance of a building permit to Fokou.He added
According to Mayor Cletus Fongu Tangwi the road leading to the slaughter house has been blocked and the Land Law talks of keeping 25 metres away from the river, before reclamation. Fokou is constructing less than three meters from the banks of the stream, which is even dangerous to the population and the company. For the past weeks, the Mile Four stream has over-flooded and it is the consequence of the ongoing reclamation in this area.
Quizzed on the repercussions of their actions, given that the company reclaiming the said land has a land title and a building permit, Mayor Fongu said;
“We are not protesting the issuance to land the certificate. We are protesting against the building permit that was issued without respect to the 25-metre distance from the river.
"If that was respected, we would not have been here today. This is just an example of what will happen in other marshy areas like Mile Six Nkwen, where the same thing is going on. Buildings constructed in marshy areas in Yaounde and Douala are currently being demolished and it is not in Bamenda that they should be constructed just to be destroyed later,” the Mayor added.
Barrister Robert Fon, Counsel for Fokou Company said his client respected all the procedures laid down by the law for the purchase and use of land.
“I authorised this piece of land, it has a land certificate, which was issued in the 1980s. My client applied for a building permit to construct a warehouse here and it was issued after payments. Since the Bamenda III Councillors started their agitations, we have asked them to put it in writing, to no avail.
If they think that this is a marshy area, they should apply for the withdrawal of the land title and the building permit and if that is done, Fokou Company will have to present a bill of all the money spent for the land, incidental charges and the money already used for ongoing construction, then my client will leave the place,” Barrister Fon averred.
Contacted to comment on the said accusations, the Government Delegate to the Bamenda City Council, Vincent Nji Ndumu, accepted that, on behalf of the City Council, he issued the building permit. “It is the Government Delegate of Bamenda City Council that issued the permit to the said company and they fulfilled all their requirements.
They gave us a technical file that gave us appropriate studies proving that they could develop the area. In addition to the technical file, it was not even a deed of conveyance, but two land certificates that were presented by the company that they own the land.
There was just nothing that could stop the Bamenda City Council from issuing the building permit,” Ndumu stated. The Government Delegate wondered what Fru Ndi and Balick Awah were protesting against, when none of them issues building permits.
“This issue is taking a political twist which we should all condemn in very strong terms,” Ndumu stated. To one of the locals of the area, the ongoing construction works at the site has made their family poorer and made him to drop out of school.
“We have seen all kinds of snakes here since this construction started. Each time it rains; rooms in this site are flooded. All the students here have left our hostel; we have no tenants. We can’t collect rents that used to help us sponsor our children in school.”
In the presence of the Mezam administration, the SDF Chairman ordered work to stop at the site within an hour. Mezam SDO, however, invited the stakeholders for a closed-door crisis meeting at his office that is expected to deliver results in a week.
Origin of the Problem After raising the issue during their Council session, Councillors decided in June to stage a protest and seal the area. The administration of Mezam reacted immediately by ordering the removal of the seal. The Councillors, however, did not take that as the solution to the problem, as they mandated the Mayor to put another seal.
The sealing then came under review during the Bamenda City Council Board session on July 4, 2015, when the Assistant SDO for Mezam, Jean Piere Ndumbe Ndika, explained that the owner of the construction site was in possession of a valid building permit, transferred land title and so had every legal right to carry on with work.
While corroborating the Assistant SDO, the Government Delegate to the Bamenda City Council explained that he issued the building permit following technical reports submitted to him by technicians of the city with one representing Bamenda III Council.
Asked during the session why he could approve a permit on marshy land, which is protected by the Land Tenure Laws, the Government Delegate said the law allows anyone who shows prove of the technical ability to develop such lands. After the session, the Assistant SDO for Mezam removed the Mayor’s seal. During a session on August 14, Councillors of the Bamenda III Council came back to the subject questioning the Assistant SDO why he removed the seal.
“I removed the seal following instructions from my hierarchy. I cannot tell you which of them, but if you come to my office I will show you a copy of the letter which is signed,” he stated.
Yet, few objections were raised, but one could conclude that the Councillors had backed out and the result was the stalemate of last Monday.
