Bakassi still scary to Cameroonians despite dev’t projects

By Rachel Ntube Ngwese in Yaounde

Bertha NdohBakata

With the end of the Cameroon Nigeria border crisis over the bakassi peninsular, and the establishment of Cameroons total sovereignty in the area following the signing of the green tree accord on 12 June 2006, the government decided to implement some administrative, security and socio-economic projects there to ease habitation and mark Cameroons effective occupation of the territory.

                In 2008, some priority projects were launched in the area including the construction of houses, schools, health centers, roads, custom post, community halls and youth animation centers amongst others. These projects were financed through the yearly public investment budget and the special mini development program. Official sources estimate the total financial investment in the peninsular at about FCFA 30 billion.

                This was disclosed recently by officials of the coordination and follow-up committee for the implementation of priority projects in the bakassi zone, during their 19th evaluation meeting intended to appraise the level of execution of the various projects.

                The statistics presented at the Yaoundé meeting revealed an additional FCFA 722 million already spent for projects in the peninsular in 2016 only. This brings the total investment to over FCFA 30.7 billion already invested in the reconstruction of Bakassi.

                Officials of the committee have however blamed some government departments for not helping enough to bring development to Bakassi. They complained fior instance that financial disbursements hardly come in time, and so most projects do not meet deadlines especially given that Bakassi is rainy for almost 9 months of the year.

   And these may just explain why despite the huge investments in Bakassi, the area still suffers acute lack of such basic necessities like portable water, electricity and roads.

Reason why the prime minister last April authorized investigations on the site to identify emergency projects intended to be executed by some Canadian investors.

                According to the committee’s chair, Bertha NdohBakata who doubles as special adviser to the Prime Minister, the level of progress registered so far in the execution of various projects is impressive especially the completion of the new fishermen’s residential quarters which is already booming with activities.

                Ndoh Bertha told the press that a committee has been put in place to ensure a repopulation of the zone with mostly Cameroonian fishermen. But she at once regretted that Nigerians domiciled in the peninsular are fast acquiring Cameroonian nationality through the normal naturalization process.

                To speed up the execution of projects at the site, she solicited that the ministry of finance should make greater efforts to disburse investment funds early enough so that much work can be accomplished in the dry seasons before the start of heavy rains.