Who is in control?

K’ba Gov’t Delegate & Mayor Pala-Pala over Motor Part

-Mayor Kona Makia threatens Gov’t Delegate to act within two weeks or be ready to hear from him

By DohBertarndNua in Kumba

John Kona Makia, Mayor of Kumba III council

The Mayor of Kumba III council, John Kona Makia has given two weeks to the Kumba government delegate to get the Ntam Motor Park operational or he will be forced to step in and launch operations at the park. Mayor Kona Makia noted that the gov’t delegate Victor NgohNkele is delaying with the park project despite knowing only too well that the motor park is supposed to be one if not the biggest revenue source for the Kumba III council.

                “The government delegate is delaying the park from going operational but has continued collecting taxes and other revenue from occupants of the precincts of the Motor Park. Victor Nkele does this without caring about the Kumba III council that harbors the park, and which is naturally and by right also supposed to benefit from the park,” complained Mayor Kona Makia, who warned that “we will seize that park form the city council and declare it operational that is if the gov’t delegate fails to act within the 25th May deadline. We cannot sit and fold our arms while the city council reaps off a property that is supposed to be ours by right….The city council cannot be collecting all the revenue when we are in dire need of our own sources of revenue.”

                Mayor Makia revealed that the total grip of the city council on the park only compromises a partnership agreement that the Kumba III council signed with a private operator granting him temporal rights to manage the site around the precincts of the park.  

                Mayor Kona Makia recalled that following a heated debate over the issue during the last accounts session of the city council, he gave the government delegate two weeks to get the park operational or he would be forced to take steps to start operations there.

                “So we hope that by the 25th of May the park will have gone operational. But if the government delegate fails to open the park we will have no option than to open it ourselves,” Mayor Makia warned.

                Situated in the Kumba III Municipality, the Ntam Motor Park has remained a major bone of contention between the Kumba city council and the Kumba III council. While the City Council insists that she is the statutory owner and manager of the park, the Kumba III council also holds that she not only hosts the park but is supposed by right to manage the park.

                It should be mentioned that the Ntam Park is one of the busiest motor parks in Kumba given that it serves as takeoff point for all vehicles plying the Kumba-Mamfe-Ekok-Nigeria, Kumba-Bamenda and Kumba-Tombel-Loum-Douala roads.

                Repeated requests by the Kumba III mayor, for the gov’t delegate to hand the park to the council have fallen on a deaf and adamant government delegate, who maintains that the park is still under the direct control of the city council.

                Ownership and control of the park was the theme of a heated debate that almost halted deliberations during the last administrative and management accounts session of the city council that held on 11 May 2017.

FCFA 900m needed for Ntam Motor Park Project

                Responding to questions from grand councilors as to what is blocking the park project, the gov’t delegate explained that plans to develop the park were stalled due to disagreements between the city council and the Chinese company that is building the Kumba-Mamfe road. He said the Chinese company was approached to build the park that is situated along the K’ba-M’fe road but the company has since neither shown any readiness to start the job nor have they presented their costing for the project.

                Victor Nkele however intimated that the Ntam Park is projected to cost over 900m cfa, an amount that the city council cannot readily afford. Reason why he said the city council has turned to FEICOM to finance the project.

                Even though, some grand councilors have questioned why the gov’t delegating unilaterally handed the project to FEICOM without their prior and express consent.

                However, as a temporal measure, the city council has decided it would pour volcanic ash (laterite) on the site to permit for the park to go operational before its permanent structures are eventually put in place. The city council is waiting on the Meme SDO to grant permission for laterite to be extracted from the Konye area, Nkele said. 

                It should be noted that the delay in getting the Ntam Park operational has caused untold disorder in the city of Kumba. This is because many mushroom motor parks have emerged at different corners along the road from Fiango to Ntam. As many as four parks are found along the stretch with all their promoters evoking delays in the opening of the much-awaited Ntam Motor Park.