Moma Sandrine in Bamenda
The Bamenda University Teaching Hospital project that was launched last May 2017 has witnessed only a 30% execution rate as analyzed by the Minister of Public Health Andre Mama Fouda. His observation was made known during a working visit to the North West Region on Wednesday May 2nd.
The Bamenda University Teaching Hospital located at Futru-Nkwen has an estimated budget of 15 billion FCFA and it was expected to be complete in 18 months. However it is 12 months gone already and the project is yet to reach half the execution rate as public health minister explained “I will not say I am happy. The project is only 30% gone. Work is progressing but the speed is not very good. It is not possible to finish under 18 months”.
The minister blamed the delay on the project on the limited staff employed. To this effect, he called on the inhabitants of Bamenda to turn out in their numbers and support the project reach its final stage “I will appeal for sons of Bamenda to join those working on this project. We have just 100 permanent staff and the project needs at least 200 staff”. According to Minister Mama Fouda, an increase in the staffing will increase the speed at which the project is being executed.
The SUN caught up with some workers at the site of the University Teaching Hospital project and low cost houses to find out the reason for the delay in the execution of the project; the workers blamed the nonpayment of their salaries as the main reason why work at the site is slow. The workers decided engage in a sit down strike action, halting work at the site.
“I come to work every morning at 7:30am and close at 5pm but for six months now, I have not received any salary. I don’t know how they are expecting us to cope. I cannot continue working when I am not being paid” Gilbert Numfor one of the workers at the site narrated.
The main contractor for the project, Alliance Cameroon sub contracted Abdoul Karim Aminou (AKA) and other companies to handle the project. According to some of the workers, they were contracted under AKA who claims that the workers’ salaries have to come from Alliance Cameroon; implying the workers will only receive their salaries when money is disbursed by the main contractor.
The site contractor under AKA, Charles Tawa narrates the bitter experience “We have been working for months without salaries and yet all we receive are promises and building materials. The man power is there to work but no money. We initiated this strike some months back but management tried to no avail. We took the issue to the governor and he asked for it to be resolved. We went back to the Director of AKA who referred us to the mother company Alliance Cameroon who claimed the money has been paid. We stand at a cross road here. Things have been very difficult for us. We have borrowed until we are known everywhere. We even borrow transport to come to work”.
According to another worker at the site, the minister thinks the delay in the project is as a result of lack of man power whereas the nonpayment of workers’ salaries is the main challenge. While Public Health minister thinks the project is 30% gone, some of the workers told The SUN that the project is less than 20% gone.
The University Teaching Hospital is constructed over a surface area of 11 hectares and it is expected to house some 14 examination rooms, 121 beds, an intensive care unit, a pharmacy, dentistry amongst others while the low cost houses are expected to house staff and students of the institution.