Breaking news: Mayor Plans to carry out demolition again in buea

Buea: the mayor wants to demolish (still) houses, the angry population

Houses demolished in 2016 (Archives)

After a demolition in 2016 that left thousands of people in Buea homeless, an atmosphere of uncertainty reigns again following the announcement of another imminent exercise of demolition by the Buea Council. 

The demolition exercise was triggered by the validation of a land use plan for Buea and a sector plan for the residential area of ​​Molyko students. 

The feasibility studies of the project, carried out by COMPETING BET / BEFA Consulting Company, were validated by councilors of the Buea Council on Friday, October 27, during a special session of the council chaired by Mayor Patrick Ekema Esunge and supervised by the Senior Divisional Agent, SDO, for Fako, Emmanuel Engamba Ledoux. 

Speaking during the session, Mayor Ekema lamented that the historic city of Buea was built anarchically, with infrastructure and other development facilities that plow the terrain. 

These chaotic buildings, according to the municipal authority, are the fallout from a missed opportunity to design a land use plan, which, he said, is a frame of reference for the master urban planning models. 

"Buea has experienced a situation of hazardous construction of houses, some of them in ravines or steep slopes or on tracks.As the population continues to grow geometrically, the challenges related to water, adequate housing and the distribution of land for social services continues to grow in a context of increasing land value.

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"There is the obvious lack of a clear demarcation of land for public structures and especially roads, which are exchanged by local authorities," he said. 

The mayor also said that such confusing constructions pose a lot of security problems, because security guards can not easily access different neighborhoods. 

He listed various events where security efforts were foiled because of the random construction and said the council is committed to opening streets in Buea, especially Molyko which is the heart of Buea. 

In this regard, the Council hammer will come down on any building that falls on the affected streets. 

Meanwhile, Ekema congratulated the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Jean Claude Mbwentchou, for allocating a significant portion of the ministry's budget to transform Buea into an emerging city. The councilors voted 10 million FCFA for the repairs of the mayor. 

During the extraordinary session of the Council, Buea's advisers voted 10 million FCFA and handed over to Mayor Ekema to allow him to repair his residence and his vandalized cars.

It will be remembered that during the peaceful demonstrations of September 22, which swept the main cities of the North-West and South-West regions, angry protesters stormed the residence of Mayor Ekema and vandalized some of his cars. . 

As a result of the incident, a person was shot dead by the mayor. At the same time, the 10 million FCFA gesture sent by the councilors to the mayor adds to the 13 million CFA francs given to the municipal authority by the Government Delegate to the Douala City Council, Dr. Fritz Ntone Ntone September 29th. a solidarity visit. 

The Mile 17 power unit needs to be relocated 

Another important decision that emerged from the extraordinary session of the Buea Council was the relocation of Mile 17 Motor Park. 

Although no specific site was chosen to accommodate the fleet, the Mayor said the council was determined to move Mile 17 Motor Park to turn the existing site into Buea Business Center.