Mayor of Bamenda II Council hands equipment for works to begin
Youths within the Bamenda II municipality stand to gain employment with the council and be involved in the construction of 13 social lodging houses, roads using the manual labour approach to build this infrastructure, which according to administration is more economical, while empowering and encouraging local manpower.
Mayor of Bamenda II Council and Coordinator of HIMO Project
Coordinator dressed in traditional regalia
The launch the HIMO project was done in Bamenda, Northwest region of Cameroon at the premises of the Bamenda II Council on March 30th 2023, in the prescence of the Coordinator of the HIMO project, Medard Kouatchou.
According to the Mayor of Bamenda II Council, Mayor Chenwi Peter, the project is worth over 307 million francs CFA and that it is thanks to the partnership signed between the Bamenda II Council and the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development ( MINEPAT).
Councilors, workers of Bamenda II Council present at the Launch
Out of the over 340 councils in Cameroon, the Bamenda II Council is one out of the 7 councils selected to benefit from the HIMO project. A project which is known to be more economical, using the labour based approach, with over 100 million cfa francs paid as upfront for the first phase of the project.
"The low cost house is going to change the livelihood of youths living in the Bamenda II municipality following the crisis in the region that displaced many of them. We are thankful to the Minister of Economy for this assistance, for choosing Bamenda II Council to be part of this project. The project will recruit youths, upgrade the standard of living for many; through construction, road works, roofing and the rest."
"The construction of 13 social lodging in ntambarg quarters. Which will also entail the rehabilitation of access road to the project side following the labour based himo approach at the cost of 307million francs CFA. The importance of the giant project will recruit youths in the municipality to help them not only build their skills but improving livelihoods", Mayor of Bamenda II Council.
The first phase of the HIMO project is the launching, to follow with the commence of works. It is also expected that during the construction of the social lodging houses, the Bamenda II Council considers the needs of persons with disabilities, as they themselves play a key role in development activities within the municipality.
According to the coordinator of the HIMO project Medard Kouatchou the project has a duration of 18months if funds are made available on time and workers paid at the end of every week.
To him, it is out of the generosity of the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development ( MINEPAT), Alamine Ousmane Mey that Bamenda II Council is benefiting from the HIMO project.
"Labour based approach means we will use stones, blocks, soil to build the houses and use hands, local technical know how to build roads or houses. The project is worth 307 million, about 150 million that is expected to be used locally, to be done in 3 phases. And it's expected that in 5months, we can go to the second phase", Coordinator of the HIMO project.
He made an appeal that the youths who will be selected, should be accompanied after they must have engaged in the HIMO project to help them save up some money to do an independent activity on their own.
"Local NGOs need to accompany workers to save part of their money so that at the end, they should develop an independent project/ activity".
Representative of Mezam SDO
The representative of the SDO for Mezam, Simon Emile Moh called on all actors concerned with the project to work in synergy, to play their role well and ensure that all is done on time, setting aside sentiments or grievances.
"It is up to the council to honour it's commitment to carry out the said works using high labour intensive techniques in accordance to the clauses established through the afore mentioned partnership agreement", SDO's representative.
Project site, SDO places first stone
In a few months, it is expected that the Bamenda II municipality will be equiped with mordern housing built on a site served by a passable road with minimum comfort. Comfort not just for the council, but also for persona living with disability who may want at anytime to access the building.
"To accomplish this, I invite the actors involved in the implementation of this project to fully and sincerely play their role and work in synergy to achieve expected results, keep aside personal feelings or differences so that the project is carried out inline with the HIMO approach", representative of the NGO at Launching.