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| PPRD Nat.Coordinator,Minister Paul Tasong (middle ,hands crossed ) with Lebialem Delegation |
By
Christopher Ambe
The National Coordinator
of the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the
Northwest and Southwest regions (PPRD-NW/SW) has emphasized that the
multi-billion Fcfa hope-giving plan must be implemented as scheduled in spite
of security concerns raised by those who think pockets of resistance, here and
there, by separatist fighters remain a hindrance to its implementation.
Paul Tasong ,who is also
Minister-Delegate in the Ministry of Planning and Regional Development
,reiterated the preparedness and
determination of the Government of Cameroon to implement plan while in Buea on a five-day “Awareness
and Sensitization Mission on the PPRD-NW/SW”, which began on Monday June 29 and
will end on July 3.
The PPRD awareness meeting
assembled administrative, religious, traditional authorities, as well as
representatives of various groups and
the civil society in the Southwest region, to whom Minister Tasong persuasively
presented the presidential plan.
“People who don’t believe
in the plan ask, how can there be reconstruction when war is going on? But Government
putting all the efforts to ensure everything is in place, so we can live in our
villages and towns as we used to live before in dignity“, Minister Tasong noted.
The PPRD-NW/SW is an
off-shoot of the 2019 Major National Dialogue(MND), which was convened by
President Paul Biya to bring about
acceptable solutions to the Anglophone crisis that erupted in late 2016
and since then has battered and shattered economies of the two English-speaking
regions -with the spilt-over negative effects of the crisis felt even across the national territory.
According to the National
Coordinator,” The Presidential Plan for Reconstruction and Development (PPRD)
is a component of the National Development Plan (NDP) that was articulated to
reduce the effects of the crisis on populations of the NW/SW and to permit
these two Regions to catch up with the rest of country.”
The objectives of the PPRD, Minister Tasong
disclosed during his meetings at Buea Mountain Hotel with representatives of
the various segments of the Southwest Population, are to: strengthen social
cohesion, rehabilitate essential infrastructure and revitalize the local
economy.
The PPRD is under the
overall supervision of the Prime Minister, Head of Government with the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as strategic partner in the implementation
of the plan.
During the opening of the
PPRD awareness and sensitization meetings in Buea on Monday by Minister Tasong
, in the presence of Southwest Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai, the
Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon(PCC) Rt Rev Samuel Fonki
called for total impartiality in the implementation of the plan, which is
expected to alleviate the suffering of citizens of the crisis-stricken
Northwest and Southwest regions.
“Impartiality will lead to
peace and the success of this plan”, noted Rt.Rev Fonki.
In his remarks, Senator,
Chief Tabe Tando said what he the beauty of Special Status is in the Plan. “The Limbe Deep Sea Port is
there. We are waiting for [the managers to] be appointed ;Jobs will be created
;he noted that decentralization has come
and is going to bring about more development and jobs. “We should take the
challenge and make our regions competitive”,he appealed.
As Minister Tasong
received in audience -and separately- the six delegations from the six
divisions of the Southwest on Tuesday and Wednesday, the various divisions
presented their development priorities, proposals, worries and expectations;
they received in return assurances from the PPRD National coordinator that
Government would answer their prayers according to available resources but not
without their active collaboration and participation where need be.
According to Minister
Tasong, the PPRD is globally a ten-year development plan, which will also cover
the crisis-stricken northern regions and will require 3500 billion Fcfa.
It emerged that the Northwest and Southwest
will benefit up to 2500 billion fcfa in investment projects by the time the
ten-year plan comes to an end
The National Coordinator
said the entire plan will run in three phases and the first phase which is for
two years focuses on the reconstruction of the Northwest and Southwest.
The first phase is
estimated to cost 89.7 billion Fcfa,co-financed by the United Nations Development
Programme(UNDP) and the Government of Cameroon.
It emerged that the UNDP
is pumping into the plan 85% of the 89.7 billion Fcfa and Cameroon is chipping
in 15% of the amount.
“PPRD activities are
guided by national policy frameworks and priorities set out in the National
Development Plan to ensure coherence and consistency of policy across the
Cameroonian territory,” according to PPRD documents.
“With recovery adequately
and timely integrated into the overall crisis response framework, affected communities
will acquire the capacity to Build Back Better (BBB) their assets, avoiding
dependency, increasing the resilience of affected communities, and looking to
solve long standing problems that may have contributed to the crisis in the
first place.”
The plan revealed that due to the Anglophone crisis,”23 278
households have lost their homes” and the PPRD in its social sector intervention,
will do the following: “Provide housing kits to 6 046 households from the
NW and 5 593 households from the SW; support the issuance of documents for
90 000 individuals in the NW and 80 000 in the SW; organize 35 and 31
capacity building workshops in the NW and SW respectively; organize 35 and 31
socio-cultural events in the NW and SW respectively; create 35 and 31 warning
cells respectively in the NW and SW to reinforce community networks such as
self-help groups, community networks and mediation groups; create 35 and 31
caregiver support groups in the NW and SW respectively to reinforce community
networks such as self-help groups, community networks, caregiver support groups
and mediation groups.
In the domain of
Infrastructure, the PPRD will restore and repair essential utilities and
infrastructure, such as schools, health facilities, water, transportation, and
telecommunications
The crisis provoked the
destruction of 293 schools and the Plan will rehabilitate 174 schools in the NW
and 119 schools in the SW; 82 health facilities and water networks were
destroyed and the plan will rehabilitate 38 health facilities in the NW and
44 in the SW ;rehabilitate 100 water
points in the NW and 225 in the SW; rehabilitate 50 community infrastructures
(canton courtyards, community halls, women and youth centers) in the NW and 50
in the SW
The PPRD will revitalize
the local economies of both NW and SW,with large-scale job creation as a priority.
Priority interventions in this area include: reviving the agricultural
production; rehabilitating productive infrastructure; providing short-term work
opportunities.
The plan will rehabilitate 13 000 ha of
farmland to the benefit of 1 500 famers in the NW and 10 000 ha of farmland to
the benefit of 1 300 famers in the SW; supply 2000 farmers with equipment,
tools and materials in the NW and 1700 farmers in the SW; support 70
cooperatives in the NW and 60 in the SW; recapitalize 350 livestock farmers in
the NW and 300 livestock farmers and 200 fishermen in the SW ;support 70
startups in the NW and 60 in the SW
It will rehabilitate 200
ovens for coffee and cocoa in the NW and 200 in the SW; rehabilitate 17 cattle
and food crops markets in the NW and 2 markets in the SW - Provide small grants start-up packages ;support the provision
of business development services.
Based on the PPRD operating principle “Building Back
Better, the plan will “ ensure that recovery and reconstruction interventions
do not simply replicate the conditions prior to the crisis but that they result
in improved and more sustainable standards of living, and opportunities for a
better life than before”
The plan is based on a
commitment to ensuring that recovery and reconstruction efforts are as
inclusive and participatory as possible, and that their results benefit
everyone in the NW/SW, and the most vulnerable and needy in particular,
according to PPRD documents.
When
Minister Tasong met with the delegation from Lebialem, one of the
hardest hit administrative units in Anglophone Cameroon, some elites of the
division expressed fears that, implementing
the plan there may prove rather difficult due to the significant presence of
amba fighters in the division.
But Minister Tasong
dismissed such fears. “The plan has to work the security situation notwithstanding.
Whether the security situation on the ground changes or not, we shall execute
the plan”, he emphasized, pleading with parents to persuade their children who
chose to be separatist fighters to leave the bushes and return home.
Generally-speaking, the
various delegations lauded the PPRD and hoped it would serve as a panacea to
the crisis-imposed problems the two regions are now facing.
(This article first appeared in The Horizon Newspaper,Cameroon,of July 2,2020}
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