Towards modernity:

K’ba City Council adopts Master Plan   
By Sirri Ntonifor in Kumba
Visitors to Kumba by 2027 might likely see, if things go according to plan, a well-planned cosmopolitan city broken down into five spatial units, each hosting 250.000 persons and fairly autonomous with its own service centre and main road. 
    Sitting in its second quarter board meeting for the 2015 Financial Year  on July 30 in the presence of the Senior Divisional Officer for Meme, Koulbout Aman David, the Kumba City Council has approved the implementation of a Master Plan to give the town a new look. This plan, the Government Delegate to the City Council says, will stem the present anarchy exercised by the people which defies urbanization and culminates in the development of shanty towns.
    The presenter of the Master Plan, Zachary Fru Nsutebu, explained that the plan is a framework to decide how the town should be developed and will serve to curb the premature invasion and conversion of rural land. It will equally enable gradual segregation according to social class. The chartered urban and regional planner suggested that the Kumba City Council delimit the area Kumba should cover as an urban city over 15 years to accommodate a predicted population of 654.300 persons, and should make these limits official. Any development out of this area will therefore be limited to rural activities. Within the planning area, systematic development progression will take place while gaps left within the city will be filled. Express transport services, Nsutebu said, should be located 50 metres from secondary and tertiary roads with entry and exit points. He predicted that should the plan be respected, it would serve as an excellent lobbying tool in government ministries for more schools and hospitals. Mr. Nsutebu also counselled mayors to carry out censuses after every five years and to plan towards the construction of amusement parks and greens for youngsters.

    Joining the technical steering committee which validated the Master plan in 2012, the Grand Councillors adopted the plan, though pointing out that a Health Centre for Barombi Mbo should be part of the Horizon 2027 Plan.
    Towards the end of the council meeting, the Grand Councillors presented All-Purpose, Infrastructure and Finance Committee Reports. The Government Delegate to the Kumba City Council, Victor Nkelle Ngoh, and Grand Councillors engaged in a fierce verbal exchange over the perceived need by the Delegate to recruit 15 new workers at a time when the council is facing severe financial hardship and retrenching workers on the basis that they used fake certificates to secure their jobs. The Government Delegate refuted the suggestion that some job descriptions be fused to reduce the number of persons to be recruited while the Grand Councillors decried the fact that they were not given enough information and time to deliberate on certain matters. The latter suggested that after this recruitment, there should be no staff employment for at least two years.
    The Grand Councillors were also vehement about the fact that the motor park be restored from the temporary market park site to its former site where construction works are presently going on. It was the opinion of the councillors that the park site can accommodate the bus agencies without obstructing on-going work and that this move will bring peace to the transport sector in Kumba City.