Water and Energy Minister lays foundation stone for Gas plant
Minister Gaston Eloundou Essomba, Cameroon's Minister of Water and Energy has visited Bamenda, Northwest region to adress the situation of gas shortage by mapping and marking the area where the Bamenda Gas Plant will be stationed.
It's not been long ago that in Bamenda the local man couldn't access cooking gas, not to talk of having it at a normal rate. Gas that was once sold at 7500frs is now sold at 10,000frs a bottle. Many have resolved to other means of cooking rather than adapt to the price hikes.
The nearest gas depot from Bamenda is located 80km away and this has greatly hampered the usage of gas in Bamenda that sells above the regulated price of 6600 frs CFA." Minister Essomba addressed the crowd.
With government's vision to increase the usage of domestic gas in the country to 60% by 2035, Minister Gaston Eloundou Essomba notes that high dependency on gas will reduce the usage of coal and wood, create jobs and revitalize the local economy.
Expected to last for two years, the project will cost the government of Cameroon a record 5.6 billion francs and will be constructed on a total surface area of 6 hectares of land.
Located in Bangshie, in Bamendakwe in the Bamenda I subdivision, the gas filling station will have the capacity of renewing expired gas bottles, refilling of domestic. The project also seeks to open smaller plants at the Divisional headquarters.
The project consists of 4 gas tanks with a capacity of 50 metric tons each, one fire water tank l, One gas filling hall, one generator, one product and fire pumping station, two nitrogen and air compressors, one engineering building, one clinic, one cafeteria, one playground, two security buildings, two weigh bridges.
This according to the General Manager of the Hydrocarbons prices stabilisation fund, Okie Johnson who remarked that this plant is the most modern in the country. This after that of Maroua in 2005 and Bertoua in 2015.
With a total population of above 2.5 million people, the North West according City Mayor Paul Achombong of the Bamenda City Council, provides a ready market and its completion will curb the black market syndrome that has caused the region to be losing significantly to middlemen.
"To every gas bottle sold, the region loses nothing fewer than 2000 frs. This means as the prices surge in the gas sector, the region loses about 2.8 billion in a year.
Laying the Foundation stone on November 5th 2022 in Bamenda, comes barely few hours before the Head of State's 40th Anniversary, this move is counted as another achievement added to his 40 years in Power.
Picture, Quotes: Observer237