North West authorities appreciate, demand more from reconstruction plan

By Nukapuh P.

Authorities in the North West region have appreciated the strides taken by the government of Cameroon to rebuild the troubled regions through the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development, PPRD, of the North West and South West regions.

The authorities including Mayors, traditional rulers and religious personalities pleaded for more projects to be carried out in the region during a two – day evaluation visit of the steering committee of the PPRD headed by the president, Balungeli Confiance Ebune, who also double as Director of Cabinet at the Prime Minister’s office.

The evaluation session brought together implementing partners like the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, the North West Development Authority, MIDENO, local councils and Fons who acted as representatives of the beneficiary communities.

Both authorities and the evaluation committee first concerted before moving to the project sites which were executed by UNDP for proper evaluation.

“Your Excellency the reconstruction of primary, secondary schools and others are enormous and we do highly appreciated these steps by the government. We can confirm that the government is doing a lot to change the situation. Just like everyone household, there must be problems. On this note I want to thank the Head of State for making sure that the people are being taken care of,” Achobong Tembeng Paul, City Mayor said.

On their part, the Mayor of Bamenda I council, Mbigha Njah Felix and the Mayor of Bamenda III council, Fongu Cletus appreciated the government for the initiative and pleaded on the government to bring more projects that will help the region to recover.

“You people are going to see the good work that is going on in Bamenda III subdivision and we must appreciate these steps taken by the government,” Mayor Fongu Cletus said.

Other personalities who appreciated the number of projects being implemented in the North West region was the Fon of Nkwen and the representative of the Arch Bishop of Bamenda, who also pleaded for more beneficial projects on behalf of the communities.

“Your Excellency we want more please if you have something to add, do. I wish to say that the people of Bamenda and the North West region are tired and want more of these projects in order to boost development in their communities. I think development has started at the center and it will definitely reach all the areas.”

According to the president of the steering committee, the population must show interest and convince the government that they are really in need of the projects. Balungeli Confiance added that the people must also standout to show that they’re ready to embrace peace.

“I feel very touched that some of my brothers and sisters were derailed by some distance enemies with little knowledge about livelihood but we have been re-echoing the Head of State’s message of peace to them and we are happy about the strides so far,” Balungeli Confiance said.

The representative of UNDP in the North West region, outlined that 45 projects have been realized in the domain of infrastructure reconstruction, 8 in the domain of livelihood revitalization, 5 in the domain of social cohesion restoration. According to her, the projects have been implemented in all 7 divisions of the region.

The delegation visited schools, hospitals, bridges and other facilities that have already been realized in Bamenda I, II and III, before ending their evaluation mission.

Mayor Achobong launched an appeal to churches and NGOs to accompany the peace building process.

“Once more I am launching an appeal to all our fellow brothers and sisters to drop their weapons and embrace the reconstruction process. I will like to appeal to NGOs and churchs to go for justice and peace. We should stop counting the lose and asking for revenge in the name of justice, peace is all we need.”

Despite the successful achievements by the UNDP in the execution of projects in the region, they also acknowledged that challenges like getting access to some communities and security problems among other challenges were encountered.