Water they say is life. The living standards of the Mbemi people in the Medig zone of the Meta clan have been improved upon following the realisation of a community impact project from the Public Investment Budget through the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy that saw the Mbemi community water scheme being rehabilitated.
The National Vice President of the Mbemi Development and Cultural Association (MBEDECA) is Injoh Foriben Ngang Prodencia who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Momo East Constituency, Mbengwi. Asked how she managed to secure such a mega project for her people, she said it was thanks to Minister Mbah Acha Rose of the Supreme State Control that used the influence of her high office to secure the project for the Mbemi people from Yaounde. Injoh Foriben Ngang Prodencia added that as development influencers in the subdivision, they expect more and more villages to come up with development projects that will go a long way to improve on the livelihoods of the Meta people upon realisation.
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| Vice President of MBEFECA, Hon. Injoh Foriben Ngang Prodencia on the Ground to Supervise the Project |
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| Mbemi Water Management Committee Being Trained in Mbengwi |
To prevent misuse and abuse, a Water Management Committee has been put in place to ensure sustainability. On Wednesday October 13 2021, the committee was trained at the Momo Divisional Delegation of Water Resources and Energy on the technicalities of how to go about managing the scheme. After the training, they were later installed into office in the village and handed some tools that they shall be using for maintenance purposes. The beneficiary population was schooled on the Dos and Don'ts of the system.
On Monday November 8 2021, Mbengwi Online decided to undertake an expedition to Mam, a quarter up the hills of neighboring Nyen village serving as main source of the pipe borne water being consumed in Mbemi. Pa Tayong Oscar is the main technician (kingpin) of the Mbemi water project. Despite his age, he was still very strong to cover the over 2km distance up and down the hill on a guided tour with this reporter. At the intake in Mam, he explained that the first technician (now of late) that did the construction work made an error of not providing breathing space for the water which he, Pa Oscar later came and corrected.
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| The Water Source in Mam |
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| Intake Constructed With Provision for Breathing Space Through Vein Pipes |
"Water breathes like human beings. You can't hold somebody's mouth and nose and expect the person to live" he explained. From inception, the early construction works at the site kept collapsing due to the error till when Pa Tayong Oscar took over as main technician, reconstructed the place, this time around making provision for easy air circulation at the intake through vein pipes. From the intake, the water gets to a filtration tank, divided into two, the first section for water to settle and drop the particles of sand it comes with from the source before moving to the first catchment.
The Mbemi water project was initiated in 1995 and completed by 2002 but its functionality all these years hasn't been without hitches like shortage and non coverage of all quarters. In 2021, the Cameroon government awarded a public contract to rehabilitate the scheme. The budget allocated for its realisation aided the villagers in buying barbed wires, pipes, filters, floaters and other items. A new catchment was also constructed in Njinenung quarter from the funds, a quarter that was all this while facing water crisis.
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| Newly Constructed 10.000 Cubic Litres Capacity of Storage Tank in Njinenung |
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| Old Tank in Njinedeuh Quarter |
From the filtration tank, the water moves into a catchment nearby where it's again filtered before being sent to the storage tank. Here, using an inbuilt iron ladder, we descended into it to witness what goes on within. From observation, there was an overflow and our guide told us it indicates there's more than enough water coming from the source. The system is built such that while the required quantity flows through a pipe to the main reservoir, the excess is also conducted to flow out into nearby streams.
As we descended from the main source, our next stop was at a break tank. In explaining its own role, our guide told us "Since the water comes from up there with speed, we have to limit it here so that it doesn't break pipes." He furthered that most community water schemes that suffer from frequent pipe breakages is often as a result of the absence of such break tanks on the water route. To him, the speed and pressure with which water flows from its source usually from up the hill to the village or community must be regulated along the way without which the pipes buried in the ground won't be able to contain such and so get broken, punctured or disjointed.
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| Pa Tayong Oscar, Regent of Mbemi Village, Chief Technician of Mbemi Water Management Committee |
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| Stand Tap in the Mbemi Palace |
We will then continue our expedition from the break tank downwards till we came to the main storage tank (reservoir) located in Njinedeuh quarter on which we found the inscription Nyen/Mbemi Water Project, 19/2 - 30/5/2002, Thanks to Our Donors: Plan Cameroon, SATA (HELVETAS), MECUDA, COM. DEV. (MINAGRI). This has been the main tank supplying pipe borne water to Mbemi village from inception though in insufficient quantity as some three quarters weren't covered till 2021 that the Cameroon government stepped in to rehabilitate the water scheme with part of the work involving the construction of a second reservoir to cover the remaining three quarters that hadn't water. Pa Tayong Oscar estimates the storage capacity of the old tank to be 18.000 cubic litres. It's surroundings are covered by water friendly trees planted by the villagers to keep the water fresh.
Along the track where transportation pipes are buried, peace plants have been planted, not for any boundary demarcation but as indicative factor that beneath are pipes in which water passes and thus in years to come, those to do any digging around or along the pipeline will have to take note. The tank is washed quarterly and the water treated too and since there are now two, when one is being cleaned, the other is supplying and thus there's water supply round the clock.
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| Water Friendly Trees Planted Around the Tank |
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| Beneficiary Community's Full Involvement in the Rehabilitation Project. |
From the storage tank in Njinedeuh, we then returned to the village and visited a stand tap near Government School Mbemi. It is one of the five constructed stand taps realised during the recent rehabilitation project. It is built with two heads such that two persons can fetch water at once. Our last stop was at the site of the newly constructed storage tank in Njinenung quarter. We were told it has a storage capacity of 10.000 cubic litres and supplies three quarters, that is, Njinenung, Njineteh and part of Tonmbemi.
To Pa Oscar, our guide, the rehabilitation project has really been of great relief considering the sufferings the people had been going through for the past years has finally come to an end. But how was such a project effectively realised in such a remote area during a crisis period as such? A questioned we posed to Pa Tayong Oscar. In response, he said it was because of the strong involvement of the beneficiary population in ensuring its effective realisation. The villagers aided in transporting materials by head to sites that were inaccessible to vehicles like up the hills of Mam where the intake is. No unknown technician was brought from anywhere to do the work. All the skilled and unskilled labour force was gotten from the village. Despite this, it wasn't still a smooth execution. "We were attacked by Amba Boys who detained me for a night before later releasing me under bail" said Pa Oscar. He paid a ransom to regain his freedom. Despite all the obstacles, the villagers remained steadfast and determined till the project was effectively completed.
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| Mbemi Water Management Committees Being Installed |
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| Handing Over Day of the Completed Water Rehabilitation Project to the Mbemi Beneficiary Community |
In terms of durability, we learnt the new tank will last longer than the old one considering the solid equipments used and new technology applied. "They built the other tank without using 'cicaled' but we've built this one using chemicals like 'cicaled' which has water resistance to let it last longer" he clarified. Pa Oscar is a renowned plumber and electrician in Mbemi, trained in the 70s. He's been provided a team of young boys in the village to pass on the knowledge in his head into theirs so that in his absence (like when he will no longer be alive) all water and electricity problems in the village will still be solved.
On Monday November 1st 2021, close to a hundred villagers rallied in the palace hall on invitation from their Fon, H.R.H Mbabit. Though not resident in his palace for over a year now due to the anglophone crisis that at some point in the past almost cost his life, the traditional ruler of the Mbemi people just like many other Fons in the Meta clan has been administering his subjects from a distance. The recent meeting he called was to give room for his subjects to air their grievances and chart the way out as regards the development of Mbemi village.
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