GP-DERUDEP II kicks-off with infrastructural projects

The Grass Field Support Project for Rural Infrastructure and Participatory Development in the Santa and Tubah Production Basin was launched in Santa on December 8.

The Country Representative of the main sponsors of the project, the African Development Bank, ADB; Ali Cisse, ADB Field Officer, said the Phase II of the Grass Field Project, abbreviated GP-DERUDEP, to the tune of over FCFA 20 billion, will positively change the living conditions of the farmers and rural dwellers, because, so many social projects are involved. For now, Ali Cisse said, only two basins, Santa-Tubah and Widikum will kick-off after the launch.

The Bayama in Sabongari Mbah Nso basins will follow later. One of the staff of GP-DERUDEP, and Project Executor, Benjamin Fobuzo, presenting an overview, explained that the project has three main components; a coordination unit of the steering committee, support to rural infrastructure-agricultural development and capacity building. According to him, the project will go a long way to improve on the social environment of the production basins.

The Project Coordinator of GP-DERUDEP, Gregory Muluh Ngu, thanked the team of experts from the African Development Bank for holding the Grass Field Project close to their hearts. He presented the GP-DERUDEP team that worked successfully to execute GP-DERUDEP Phase I.

“This GP-DERUDEP II is coming as a result of so many gaps that we discovered could not be filled by the first phase. Luckily, the Cameroon Government listened to us and we presented these problems of lack of funds and the ADB that rated our project as one of their best projects that was executed within the time frame, approved this second phase today, starting with Santa-Tubah basin and we shall, in a week’s time, be launching that of Widikum basin,” Muluh averred.

The GP-DERUDEP Coordinator said, unlike the 1st phase that involved all of the Northwest Region; “This time, there are only four basins where we shall tackle agricultural problems like farm-to-market roads for easy evacuation of farmers’ produce, we shall provide a lot of infrastructure,” Muluh stated.

Declaring the launching open, the Senior Divisional Office for Mezam, Felix Nguele Nguele, who presided at the event at the Santa Council, thanked the economic cooperation between the ADB and the Cameroon Government. He urged the stakeholders, mainly farmers, to make maximum use of the opportunities offered by GP-DERUDEP II. To succeed, Nguele Nguele appealed to stakeholders to get involved at all the stages of the execution of the project.