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K. C. EMBARKS ON A LIBERALIZATION POLICY
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In a bid to liberalize its services, thereby
creating employment, the Kumbo Council, under the auspices of
Mayor Njong Fonyuy Donatus has contracted some of its parks to the
SEADZEM CIG company, represented by its General Manager, Mr. Lukong Pius.
By this contract, the Kumbo Council confers
on
SEADZEM CIG the right to manage the parks on a non-exclusive basis
within the Kumbo Urban Municipality. This includes, the collection
of parking fees, the collection of loading charges, and the
collection of park fees. The
SEADZEM CIG covers all parks within the
Kumbo Municipality; namely, the Bamkika'ai Park, the Njavnyuy
Park, Shangwai gate, Kikaikelaki gate and Mbah Park. Taking effect
from the 14/02/004, the contract is expected to run for ten months
and it is renewable.
According to the contract, the Kumbo Council shall duly punish all defaulters in the payment of dues and
or other charges. Nevertheless,
SEADZEM CIG reserves the right to
institute legal proceedings with authorization from the Kumbo
Council against the defaulting client.
In addition, the contract states that the Kumbo
Council shall lend assistance to
SEADZEM CIG by putting at its
disposal the forces of Law and Order to help recover funds and met
out punishment to defaulters, when and where necessary.
Above all,
SEADZEM CIG shall re-engage the Kumbo
Council revenue collectors and workers and workers involved in
this sector.
The Kumbo Council has plans to liberalize
other services in the near future. In the same vain, the Kumbo
Council, in its usual spirit of participatory approach, will
allocate to each zone of the council a sum of one million Francs CFA.
This shall enable these zones carry out development projects,
jointly conceived and designed by the councilors of each zone and
some notables. Three zones shall be randomly selected at a time, to
give room for effective evaluation, after which, the next three
zones shall also be randomly selected.
In 1999, Mr. Puri Virendar a volunteer from CESO/SACO
(Canadian Executive Services Organisation) and NGO based in Canada
visited Kumbo on the request of Mayor Njong D.F. who approached him
in March 1999 to make available the services of a consultant to
prepare a draft "Master Plan" on which to base the future
development plan of Kumbo. The aim of his study was to come out with
a "Town Plan" for Kumbo to guide the Kumbo Council to base all
future developments of the Town in conformity with the plan. More
than a year ago, Mr. Maurice Seguin, a CESO-SACO volunteer from
Canada again visited the Kumbo Council following a request
from the Mayor brought forward by the Mayor Njong Fonyuy Donatus to
CESO/SACO on January 24th 2003. While in Kumbo he carried out a
study which implied: widening of the existing roads, design of a
proper drainage system, scarification/compaction of the old roads,
inspection of culverts, culvert heads, offshoots, bridges and other
infrastructures and suggestions for improvements/modifications when
required, field observations and descriptions of the actual traffic
on these roads (that is the density of traffic, the quantity of
goods transported on the roads and size of vehicles that travel on
these roads), the design and installation of a gravel pad over the
soil base in order to minimize the quantity of dust in the dry
season and of mud in the wet season. Besides the poor condition of
the road network, the domestic solid waste disposal system actually
in use is in disfavor of its inhabitants. Numerous illegal garbage
mounds litter many sectors and quarters of the town and concur to
its poor sanitary state. Even legal dumpsites are poorly situated,
improperly handled and rarely processed/treated. In the study, Mr.
Maurice found out that domestic solid waste is actually one of the
natural resources that is almost completely ignored and lost in the
town of Kumbo. This study therefore proposed that an emphasis be put
on two sources of Domestic Solid Waste. Disposal: composting of
natural organic matter and recycling of artificial organic materials
and inorganic scraps and glass.
In 2004 again, some four CESO-SACO volunteers
from Canada visited K.C and carried out studies based on three
fields; Economic Development Plan for Kumbo, carried out by Mr.
Ghislain Girard, Agriculture and Forestry by, Mr. Henri Pequignot
and Tourism by Vivianne Coude. In two weeks, they both made a walk
around the sectors that concerned their fields after which they came
out with a feasibility study, and there after presented a report
with some recommendations to the council.