The Lord
Mayor, Tubah
HRH, The
king of Bambui,
The
Chairman, BVC and BOD Chair of BAWA
The
President General-BACUDA
Dear Consumers
of BAWA
Distinguished
ladies and Gentlemen.
Ten months
have already elapsed since the last historical congress of BAWA which held in
this palace last year.
You all
were eye witnesses to those democratic elections which put in place the present
management board.
Formally
and on behalf of the management board of BAWA, I salute you all and deep in my
heart heartily thank you for coming.
We express
our sincere thanks as well to the Bambui village council for the
transparent manner which the elections were conducted and the result presented
Your coming
out here today is not for a safari trip but to listen, discuss and take stock of
our activities for last year and appreciate our projections for 2015 with regards
to the better management of our water scheme
The world
is fast changing and water challenges are becoming more and more complex
needing very fast solutions. That is one of the reasons for which we are here
today, and therefore you have to be part of the brain boxes for the
deliberations taking place today. You have come here as proud people who even
at this moment of water crisis can boast that at least there is always enough water
for a school child to drink.
The year
2014, was one of remarkable change for BAWA. The impact of the change was felt
in the following domains.
CONSTITUTION
The
constitution of BAWA was completely reviewed and the 2014 version carries a lot
of modifications from the 2011 version. We heartily thank all the stakeholders
who made the necessary sacrifices, worked day and night to see this happen for
the general interest of our dear village and for better management of our water
scheme.
The
management board is gradually putting in place all the articles of the new
constitution.
CATCHMENT PROTECTION
In the area
of catchment protection, we planted 2300 trees were planted in catchments 1, 3 & 4 at upper IRAD farms
300 of which were an offer from a local NGO. Though these
efforts are constantly being made at heavy financial costs for the
sustainability of our water resources, we wish to decry these acts of
destruction of these catchments by farmers and some well educated members of
our own village community, an act which is highly decried.
STRUCTURES
For better
treatment of the water we supply to the population, we constructed a new sand
wash slab for better washing of sand for the water treatment station at Atoue.
WATER METERS INSTALLATION:
The
installation of water meters to help control water wastage is still a major
concern. Projected but not yet realized due to lack of appropriate meters, it
has been concluded that with the assistance of RAD Cameroon, this
project shall see the light of
day this 2015.
NETWORK MAINTENANCE
The pipe
line network suffered from lot of leakages resulting from narrow depth of pipes
in certain areas and destruction caused by Lorries conveying heavy building materials.
This took much in terms of finances to maintain.
As this was
not enough the entire network line from the University of Bamenda to Bambui
suffered total destruction following a road construction exercise. The
unfortunate thing here is that the consumer population has suffered for more
than two months since the line could not be re-linked in good time because of
lack of the needed materials.
-The
destruction on the trunk line caused by the Tubah Council is still being
repaired with expenses already amounting to an enormous sum of above 2.5million
francs of borrowed materials. The uncompleted portion of the pipeline is due to
lack of the necessary materials. An appeal addressed to the Tubah council to
assist remedy this situation has not yet been answered to.
CAR WASH POINT USERS
BAWA failed
to register collaboration from the users of the car wash points along the
Atunui stream despite repeated calls on them to own up to their responsibility.
The result of this is that the projected income from this source was not realized.
We do not see how people can exploit resources and would refuse to pay tribute.
This is an attitude which must come to an end if we have to be thinking of sustainability
for all hands must be put on deck for this to be realized.
WATER CONGRESS
Due to the
nature and calendar of activities last year, BAWA held two congresses. The
first was an extra ordinary congress in which the new and current constitution
was adopted and the second was an ordinary congress which took place on the 9th
of June in which the new structures or organigram of BAWA was put in place. We
are proud that both congresses were very successful and we would like to use
this forum to thank the entire Bambui population in general for their show of
maturity and the administration of Tubah for always being by our side in the realization
of our dreams.
LEGAL MATTERS
- Last
year, we reported some cases we were pursuing in court. Two of those cases at
the high court of Mezam all ended in our favour. There is only one pending matter at the appeal
court which we hope would not be above us God willing.
REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE:
NEW CONNECTIONS:
-While work
is currently going on along the trunk lines, the connection of water to private
residences is also progressing as there are a number of new connections that
are being done every month especially as more and houses are constructed around. This large number of new connections
has contributed a lot to shortages in the water supply. We however hope that
this problem would be solved when the new catchment goes operational.
WATER SANITATION:
-Throughout the year, our greatest head ache has been that of getting
the appropriate sand for the water treatment station at Atoue. The cause being
the collapse of the bridge to the sand pit that has this material along the Wum
road. However we remain optimistic since
we received the first consignment of the sand last week. Water quality testing
started by Reignite Action for Development last year has to be continued by
BAWA this year to ensure that good quality water is supplied to the population
to curb incidences of water borne diseases.
LABOUR DAY PARTICIPATION:
-For the past two years BAWA has been taking part in the Labour Day
activities in Bamenda and is again to do so this year.
2015 VISION
Our Main
priority for 2015 shall be the construction of a new water source at the IRAD
farms. We are very convinced that additional water to come from this very rich
source would greatly remedy the situation of constant water shortages.
The
contractor to do the work has already been selected. Very soon we shall be
turning to the population to assist in digging the pipeline. Studies are also
underway for water extension to Ndzebuer quarter.
REVIEW OF WORKERS’SITUATION:
- To better
the working condition of the workers, we approved salary advancement and
transport allowances for them with
effect from month of January 2015.
- Distinguished Ladies and gentlemen, without wishing to
bore you much, permit me to end here.
Happy and fruitful deliberations.
Thank you very much.
Signed
Tabuefor A. Aloysious
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