By Doh James Sonkey
The population of Bamenda in particular and those of the entire North West region have expressed gratitude to the President of the Republic, Paul Biya for the FCFA 6 billion gift of the Bamenda Liquefied Petroleum Gas Filling Centre that will make the entire region independent in domestic gas supply. They expressed their gratitude last May 9, 2025 as the representative of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, Minister Gaston Eloundou Essomba of Energy and Water Resources announced that henceforth domestic gas will cost FCFA 6500 down from speculative prices that even reach FCFA 9000.
Minister Gaston Eloundou Essomba was speaking as he officially inaugurated the ultramodern and state of the art infrastructure in Bamendakwe, Bamenda I Sub Division of the North West region in the presence of Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Supreme State Audit, Mbah Acha Rose, Minister Delegate to the Minister of External Relations in charge of the Commonwealth, Felix Mbayu, the General Manager of Cameroon Telecommunications, CAMTEL, Judith Yah Sunday epouse Achidi, North West Governor, Adolph Lele Lafrique, NW Regional House of Assembly President, Prof Fru Agwafor etc.
The PM representative said the President of the Republic, Paul Biya has decided to award the General Manager of the Hydrocarbons Prices Stabilization Fund better known by its French acronym CSPH, Okie Johnson Ndoh with the medal of Officer of the National Order of Valour.
The GM of the CSPH in reaction expressed gratitude and called for a standing ovation for the Head of State, Paul Biya whose leadership at the helm of the Nation he said is driving Cameroon to an emergent economy by 2025. He dedicated his medal to the entire staff of the CSPH whose collaboration make it possible to achieve several results.
An Interreligious prayer asking God to make the facility improve the living conditions of the population and bring peace to the North West region was made at the beginning of the ceremony. The custodians of the tradition of the North West people then entered the scene to perform certain rituals on the site calling for ancestral blessings.
CSPH DG details project
Speaking during the occasion, GM Okie Johnson Ndoh explained that ‘‘the 12-post carousel has the capacity of filling 600-650 gas bottles per hour. Beyond the comfort it brings to the general public by minimising the risks of gas shortage, the presence of the filling centre in Bamenda will contribute to the consolidation of government efforts advocated by the Head of State, H.E.Paul Biya with the view to revitalise our economy.”
The General Manager said he saw the hand of God in the realisation of the project.
After the cutting of the symbolic ribbon, a guided tour to the ultramodern structure was conducted by Minister Gaston Eloundou Essomba where the following infrastructures were presented to the public: fire water tank, air compressor dryer station, fire water pump house, LPG compressor building, LGP Cylinder Filling Hall (carousel), LGP bullets tanks, LGP Cylinder storage hall, administrative building, operational building, maintenance building, the generator house, the grantry with weigh house, security gates perimeter fence etc.
The residential area comprising of staff quarters, restaurant, clinic, football field, Leon tennis area and tankers withholding area were equally presented.
The work was realised by the contractor, Jens Production for 26 months on behalf of the CSPH.
Gabriel Eteki of SCDP promised they will soon train 6 persons to run the Bamenda LPG Filling centre.
November 5, 2022 the construction work was launched by Energy and Water Resources Minister, Gaston Eloundou Essomba.
Bamenda City Mayor to carefully guard project
Bamenda City Mayor, Paul Achobong promised to keep the infrastructure intact and urged other investors to emulate the example of CSPH, explaining that Bamenda is opened to welcome them all in peace and tranquility.
Accolades to PM
The PM representative was dressed by North West fons and CPDM elite followed suit and handed a chair to the PM representative in recognition of his presence in Bamenda and named him a special citizen of the North West region.
They also gave regalia to GM Okie Johnson Ndoh who later handed huge package of didactic materials to the various administrative authorities in the North West region.
Talking to reporters at the end of the ceremony marked by heavy down pour, Okie Johnson Ndoh said ‘‘everything is modern and everything is automatic. Automated equipment, everything here becomes automatic. And secondly, what makes it unique is the sense that we have the industrial sector,
which is modern and automatic. Now we have a social aspect, which takes into consideration the housing of the workers, building a clinic that would be able to manage health problems of the workers, even population around. We have a social aspect where we have, a cafeteria where people would be able to do some feeding. And then we have a leisure area where people can play football, there is also a tennis court. And this is what makes it distinct.’’