“No Matter What Happens, The Roads Remain Our Roads”

You are the Mayor of the Bamenda City Council and the city is currently undergoing transformative road construction works. How do you appreciate what is happening in Ba­ menda? I would like to say I’m very happy. I appreciate it so much, and I’m very grateful to the Government of Cameroon, and even more to His Excellency Presi­ dent Paul Biya, Head of State, for this wonderful gesture towards our city. Before, it was very bad, but in the twinkle of an eye, there has been a great transformation, and I am very grateful. There are so many partners and actors involved in the construction of roads in Bamenda. There is the go­ vernment through projects sponsored by the World Bank, C2D projects and other interventions. Which are the roads being constructed by the Bamenda City Council? I want to be very straight on this. if you see the World Bank in Bamenda, it is the government of Cameroon. You see C2D, it is the Government of Cameroon. You see the council; it is the Government of Cameroon. There is practically nothing the council can do on its own without the assistance of the government. Councils collect local funds, and most of the time, these local funds cannot amount to one or two billion FCFA needed to carry out major road works. Nevertheless, as a council, we try within our means to construct some roads using surface dressing. We have changed our narrative from surface dressing to asphalt because the li­ fespan of a surface-dressed road is very short and minimal. We therefore want to go in for asphalt, which is more long-lasting. What is the contribution of the City Council to ensure the success of these works? Coming to what the council is doing, I will say that the council is the owner of these roads that the State is constructing. We accompany the government and follow up the activities of those who have been charged with the construction work. We ad­ dress some of the pertinent challenges in the city and redirect some activities through our proposals. We do this through the appropriate quarters, which deliberate on and approve the issues we identify in the city. Road construction is good, but roads also need maintenance. When the government constructs the roads, they are eventually handed over to the council. We therefore become responsible for the roads. The owner of every property is ex­ pected to care for it, maintain it, use it judiciously and ensure that it continues to provide the services for which it was created. There is much that we are going to do. First, we have to make sure that the houses built along the roads are of good quality. We have to keep the gutters clean and ensure that the environment of the city reflects the quality of the roads being constructed. We have to take care of every aspect surrounding the roads, maintain them, sustain them and ensure that they become an attraction for many more development projects. There is an added-value policy that we are giving to land so that the buildings along the roads refl...