The 22 year old Misaje Council in Donga Mantung Division of
The North West Region has embarked on a giant stride with the projection of an
investment plan for 2016 worth over FCFA 800 million and adopting a realistic
budget of FCFA 521.534.143 last Friday November 27, 2015 marking an increase of
FCFA 205.992.107 as of 2015 budget. According to Mayor Mgbata Sammy, the reason
to draw up an investment plan worth far beyond the actual budget for 2016 is to
give ample opening for future funding bodies to choose and finance any of the
projects envisaged in the investment plan without any need for a deliberation
thereof. Many might wonder why the projection in the investment plan is so high
yet the budget is low he says it is much better to aim low in terms of budget
and shot high in terms of realization than otherwise.
As elaborated by the Mayor of the municipality, priority
projects shall hinge on putting in place an equipped science laboratory at the
Government High School Misaje and ensure that other secondary schools in the
municipality are updated in terms of classrooms, benches and didactic
materials. With the investment plan for Misaje all the nooks and crannies of
the 12 villages that make up the municipality are reflected in the plan
especially in the area of roads, water and electricity given that the
subdivision is presently being linked to the national grid from Nkambe. There
are also plans to link Misaje with electricity from Bui Division in the days
ahead that would run through to the economic Town Dumbu while other villages
that are not on the map of the national grid such as Mayokila, Bebejatto,
Bebejaman and Bebekette shall benefit from the rural electrification project on
solar energy.
With this plan in place and going by the Mayor’s assurances,
the people of Misaje are expected to witness an avalanche of projects execution
in the municipality with one major one being the tarring of streets in Misaje
town as announced by Mayor Mgbata Sammy. According to him the road; Dumbu,
Sabongida, Mayokila, Bebejaman and Akweto with the means available shall be
linked to the national road.
Other deliberations centered around the purchase of a new
vehicle for the Mayor and Councilor Shiek Tukur questioned what had happened to
the council hilux supposedly grounded in Bamenda under the custody of a
mechanic with money paid in full and Councilor Nkenda Simon corroborated that
buying a new vehicle without being able to manage the old one does not speak
well of the council. Mayor Mgbata Sammy assured the Councilors that a legal
procedure is already underway and what is delaying court action is a plea by
some elite to give the mechanic up to the end of November and if he does not
deliver the vehicle in good working condition legal action would proceed. These,
not withstanding the Mayor said, by the end of the period of grace if the mechanic
fails, he the Mayor shall pay back the said amount in to the state treasury and
pursue the mechanic independently in court. With some degree of satisfaction
from the explanations, Councilors equally adopted among others as a working
document the remunerations and allowances to allocated to Mayors and Deputies
as per the Presidential decree of 16 September 2015 which also allocate
salaries to mayors and Deputies. Councilors shall also be entitled to some
advantages such as augmented seating and outstation allowances given that
Misaje is on category three having a budget that ranges within FCFA 250 Million
and one Billion.
By Ignatius Nji
No comments:
Post a Comment