Members of the Momo Divisional Performance Follow-up Committee for the evaluation of projects executed from the Public Investment Budget have been called upon to step up their game and give the division the much needed development it deserves. The call was made by the Senior Divisional Officer for Momo Division, Absalom Monono Woloa as he chaired the committee's third quarterly meeting in the conference hall of the Divisional Delegation of MINEPAT Mbengwi last Thursday October 18 2018. The committee met to evaluate the level of financial and physical realisation and evaluate if recommendations of the last meeting were executed.
The S.D.O in his opening statement congratulated economic operators, project owners and engineers, for the little efforts they put in before the last meeting, during which physical realisation rate stood at 10.51%. To him, this was better than zero. He however frowned at lazy and dubious contractors that are now hiding behind the Anglophone crisis under the pretext of insecurity to abandon or play foul with projects. He also strongly condemned the separatists fighters for having instilled fear in the people and crumbled the economy. Monono warned the committee members that if they don't meet up with effective realisation by the end of the year, then they would be guilty of contributing to the hardship faced by the population. He ended by advising the stakeholders to talk to the boys in the bushes and school them that destroying public property isn't doing harm to any institution said to be the state but to themselves. That when they cut roads, destroy bridges, network and electricity poles, burn schools etc, it's not the state that suffers. The people in the said area including the fighters pay the price.
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| L-R: Div. Del., MINEPAT, S.D.O (Absalom Monono), Committee President (Hon. Edna Mbah), Div. Treasurer (Madam Foncham) |
The president of the Momo Divisional Follow-up Committee is Honourable Edna Enih Mbah, Member of Parliament for Momo East Constituency. She enjoined project owners and engineers to be able to talk of advancement during the next meeting while promising that the committee will move to the field in the days ahead to ascertain the actual level of work being done by the contractors. She frowned at most mayors and technical service heads within the division that have continued to underrate the importance of attending such meetings. For instance only the mayor of Mbengwi was present during the meeting though she came late. The rest either send their Council Development Officers or other representatives who are often handicap with information required of them.
Just like the S.D.O, the M.P regretted that the terrain has really been rough to the point where a certain Mr. Mbah, a popular contractor in Mbengwi was attacked and killed in Widikum, months back while on the field to supervise a project. He was mistaken for a spy by separatist fighters in the bushes and eliminated. Despite this regrettable incidence coupled with other fallouts of the sociopolitical crisis that have greatly destabilised the execution of projects, she still encouraged all, mostly owners of projects of purchases (council projects below five million) to be committed for such are often either at 0% or 100% realisation. In her words, "We know that we have social tension. Those involved in these projects, both beneficiaries and executors must get down to work because we aren't going to take any administrative dispensations that will favour anybody that hasn't done the right thing. We the beneficiaries must welcome these projects because it is our own share of the national cake. While we hope for a bigger share, let's appreciate the one we have because better days are ahead " she ended.
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| Service Heads |
Madam Nkempu Njonguo Catherine Atendemen is the Momo Divisional Delegate of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT). She observed that as at now, physical realisation rate of projects within the division stands at 21.04% but regrettably, most divisional projects are effectively being executed while almost all projects owned by mayors are at 0% execution. She warned that because the finance budget will be closed by November 30th, stakeholders must do everything humanly possible to finish what is left undone without which disappointment shall be their portion.
While closing the meeting, the Momo S.D.O once more called to order, dubious contractors that are trying to take advantage of the crisis situation and swindle state funds for little or no work done. He insisted that the local authorities like mayors, elites, traditional and religious leaders must stay back in their communities and face the challenges rather than escape to urban areas thus leaving their population at the mercy of activists. He directly compared and contrasted the situation of Ngie with that of Batibo. In the former, all the elites, mayor and other leaders have escaped. Because of this, the separatist fighters took advantage and vandalised the council building, solar plant, network antenna, D.O's residence and other buildings. To Monono, if they had stayed back and talked to the boys even in the vernacular, they won't have shot themselves in the legs because the sufferers now are the community not the government as they think. He insisted that local authorities seeking refuge in cities can't claim not to know these boys. As he put it, "They are your boys. Talk to them".
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| Madam Nkempu Njonguo Catherine Atendemen, Momo's Div. Del., of MINEPAT |
In the latter (Batibo), the case is different. Monono advised the other mayors within the division to copy the example of their colleague of Batibo, Tanjoh Fridrick. Batibo has been one of the highest hit sub divisions in the face of the on going crisis yet the mayor has not escaped. The sub division has been hosting many separatist fighters' camps. The military has been attacking there severally destroying the camps. Despite these, the mayor stayed back and was rather assisting in burying corpses. As a result, Monono revealed that many of the "Amba" boys in Batibo as they are fondly called have been coming to their senses. They've realised that the property they are destroying is theirs. The community pulled resources together and erected such buildings, dug the roads. So destroying them is like shooting one's self. In effect, the strategy has changed. Even in the midst of the crisis, the execution of public contracts is effectively going on in several parts of Batibo sub division. A case in point is a school in Bessi Awum where Amba boys have warned the contractor to ensure that he does good work else they "deal" with him. To Monono, nobody should think that he or she can escape from death because death is everywhere.
In other not to face resistance from the beneficiaries, Absalom Monono Woloa advised that mayors must avoid using only contractors that are their close friends and relatives. Again, contractors must avoid bringing only their own labour to execute a project in a community. The locals must be involved. Let them benefit financially in the implementation by probably clearing, digging and other mean jobs, then the success of the project will be guaranteed. If the community has qualified technicians like plumbers, builders, electricians etc, they must be integrated into the project without which they will resist its realisation or distance themselves away from it for no one will like to miss an opportunity to make money
Before his final words, he proposed that from now henceforth the Delegation of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development must be involved in the drawing up and execution of projects so as to carry out environmental impact assessment. After introducing the new Divisional Financial Controller in the person of Mr. Tangwan Derrick to the attendees, he then ended by announcing that in implementing effective decentralisation, the state has already transfered powers and competencies to the councils of Widikum, Batibo and Mbengwi to be responsible for the cleaning of roadsides.
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