Babessi Battered By 2 Floods In 3 Years

Babessi’s battle with the floods keeps going on. On Monday, September 14, 2015 another wave of floods battered inhabitants of Garri and Quebessi quarters Baba I, Babessi Subdivision in Ngoketunjia Division of the Northwest Region. More than 100 people were rendered homeless as over 35 houses were submerged by floods emanating from heavy rains.

By Che Azenyui Bruno

A report published in online Cam-Pedia.org said the flood victims accused a road construction company, SATOM, of poor drainage.

At the time of penning this report, only the SDO of Ngoketunjia had visited the disaster site to assess the extent of damage caused by the floods, according to the Fon of Baba I, Fuekemshi II. A commission, the Fon said, was expected to be on the site to assess the damage and number of victims involved.

Babessi Subdivision is vulnerable to floods. In September 2012, over 95 families were rendered homeless in Chui, Abakwa Centre, Mbow and Mbezoh quarters by floods that ravaged some 60 houses. Over 160 hectares of crop land, most of which were rice plots, were washed away depriving more than 139 farmers of their harvests at a time when parents were getting ready to sell their farm produce and send their children to school.

The government had dispatched some FCFA 100 million (FCFA 20 million worth of material donation and FCFA 80 million cash) to help the flood victims though most of the victims reportedly never got to benefit from the support.

After the incident, over 40 hectares of land were allocated to resettle those living in the areas identified as risk zones. The resettlement process has, however, been faulted for being too slow as it is yet to be completed three years after the incident.

Speaking to The Green Vision three years ago, then interim Mayor of Babessi, Tamfu Enusa Konningongoh, blamed the recurrent floods in the area on the Bamenjin Dam in the Ndop Plains.

“With a dam further down, a flood is always inevitable,” Tamfu had said. He had further warned that Bambalang, Bangolan, Baba I, Bamunka and even Babungo were at risk of being flooded in the future with dire consequences. And it came to pass.

The Mayor had also warned that those dwelling in swamps (behind the dam), which had earlier been earmarked for relocation during the construction of the dam, needed to be moved.