By Wambo Emmanuel/ Ketcha Mireille in Bafoussam
Vis-a-vis activities marking the end of year of the 2016 in his region of command, the Governor of the west Region, Awa Fonkam Augustine has said he is satisfied with the security measures he and collaborators launched to curb insecurity in the regions.
Speaking to this reporter in an inclusive interview in his office recently, he said that for some months now there have been many arrests of armed robbers and terrorist. Many of them were surprised at their hideout when the forces of law and order carried out their operations.
“They were always armed and carried out their vicious acts on highways, broke into people’s houses, people’s businesses and some financial institutions. Some had specialized in the trafficking of Tiger-skin. They had discovered that tiger fur is very expensive and a very lucrative business and since palaces of Fons, chiefs, etc all have the tiger-fur in their palaces in the region, their palaces were always targeted” Governor Awah said.
According to the governor, before his intervention with the forces of Law and Order, some of the palaces like Dschang, Bafang, Foumbot and others were already at the mercy of the men of the underworld.
Governor Awa Fonkam Augustine however used the occasion to praise the forces of Law and Oder and the population of the region for their vigilance in the fight against criminality in the Region.
The Governor further regretted the fact that, he has discovered that some criminals who contributed to the social unrest during the recent uprising in the neighboring region, North West, have left the town and are now running bikes in Mbouda after causing a lot of harm to some people in Bamenda. He vowed to rid his region of those ‘criminals’.
Road accidents and the false rumours about a plane crash in Bafoussam were also worries of Governor Awah Fonkam. He regretted the fact that, panic and consternation had gripped the population of the West region based on false rumours through the social media. He however admitted that due to bad roads, accidents were some of the major setbacks in the Region that claimed souls.
As far as the economy of the Region is concerned, the governor said bird flu was the major setback on the economy since poultry farming is one of the main businesses in the Region. He however expressed relieve that the bird flu is over and the poultry business is back on its feet.
On infrastructure, the governor lauded the completion of the Bafousssam Municipal Stadium. He also announced that, Razel and other road companies are busy working on the Foumbot – Bangante road and others, but regretted the bad state of roads linking the region such as the Bafoussam – Sanaga, Bafoussam – Adamawa roads etc. He announced that the French Ambassador to Cameroon visited Bafoussam recently and promised to help in the rehabilitation of the bad roads. The Ministry of Urban Development has also embarked on the construction of some roads within Bafoussam in order to prepare Bafoussam for the African Nations Cup in 2019.