Youths in Buea town deliberately block road, demand for bridge

By Shanta Sih

The March 17, 2023 flood incident in Buea South West region of Cameroon has not been forgotten by the youth of the city after several persons lost their lives and property. Several weeks later, they say there is a risk that this reoccurs as water keeps coming down heavily from the mountains each time it rains.

The Mayor of Buea, David Mafany Namange, has embraked on a demolition exercise to clear the water ways but witness say the exercise has still not been completed.

“The area where the flood affected the most in Bonalyonga has been totally abandoned. The city Mayor started a good job and suddenly abandoned it completely. When it rains, water still scatters everywhere around that area which makes it so scary as no one can leave home,” a Bonalyonga native complains.

“We enjoyed our tarred road before but now we cannot because the roads have been blocked and I am part of the team. The Bonalyonga youths have decided that, no car will be able to use that road until a bridge is constructed. We cannot keep suffering like this. It has always been our initiative as youths around the village to clean the flood sites by trying to dig the gutters and take out the dirt that had been kept standing on the road. Caterpillars came here during the flood time and destroyed some houses, made a huge mess out of the ground gathered from the water and dumped it on the road. The entire area is just a mess and water still worries the entire Buea town whenever rain falls like the recent rain on Sunday April 16, 2023. We want a bridge,” another Bonalyonga native explained.

“Although we really stress around here with the blockage of the road, it is for our cry to be heard, it’s a total mess – I mean the job done by the Buea council. Our children have tried their very best around the flood areas but it is not enough by cleaning every Mondays and trying to open the area so water from the mountain can pass but the rains everytime still bring heavy water and it’s still the same because the road has been blocked with dirt, stones and things from the demolition exercise which was never completed. The council should use the caterpillars to carry all the dirt and free the entire area so water can freely pass if not, our children and our lives are still at risk,” a mother from Bonalyonga says.

The youths around the Bonalyonga area have planted peace plants around the area of the flood and have made sure no vehicle can use the road insisting that water ways be created and a bridge must be built around the water way in Bonalyonga. Private vehicle owners and taxi drivers have been complaining about this recent action as they are unable to move freely and only have to go through the Buea town market road. The road has been blocked since Monday April 10, 2023.