Buea floods: SW Governor shifts blame to population!.

He blamed the population for indiscipline and their refusal to respect laws and regulations concerning the construction of houses and respect for nature.

Governor Okalia made the declaration Sunday as he went on a tour of affected areas to take stock of the situation.

“From what we have seen, the floods and its effects are the consequences of the indiscipline of the population and their refusal to respect the laws and regulations concerning the construction and respect for nature,” he said.

“We are in a risky zone and the mountain has its waterways. When it rains up the mountain, we don’t know and sometimes the water will remain there for weeks or days and when it comes down, it always comes down heavily,” Okalia added.

The Governor urged the population to respect natural pathways during construction and the cutting down of trees in the mountain area.

“…it is now a matter of respecting nature, because we are in a risky zone. Because we are in a risky zone, we must discourage deviant behaviour such as the cutting down of trees,” he enjoined.

The floods, which affected Buea Town and other neighbourhoods in Buea on Saturday March 18, claimed two lives. Four persons remain hospitalised at the Buea Regional Hospital, while property worth millions have been destroyed in the area. Some denizens of Buea Town have been rendered homeless, after the runoffs tore into their homes, destroying everything.

The roads in some communities were cut off by the floods. In Bokwai and Bokova, water pipes providing potable water in the area, according to the Mayor of Buea, were destroyed.

Speaking to pressmen in the hospital while taking care of her two children, Zainabu Angeline, mother of three who lost one, remained thankful to God that she lost everything she had, but her two sons are alive.

“I can just thank God for saving these two because all three could have died, but I thank God,” she said.

On her part, Sharma Martha, in the Wonyalyonga neighbourhood in Buea Town, explained that they lost everything as the runoff forced a path through their compound.

Experts agree floods a natural phenomenon in Buea

Speaking to pressmen after their tour of the damage sites, the South West Regional Delegates of Environment and Nature Protection and his counterpart of Scientific Research and Innovation, said floods in Buea are not a strange happening, given that it is community at the foot of the mountain.

According to Dr George Mafany Teke, South Regional Delegate of Scientific Research and Innovation, what happened was a flashflood.

“We experienced a flashflood in Buea on Saturday March 18, which is a natural phenomenon when there is very intense rain fall. In our case of Mount Cameroon, the rain fell at the higher reaches of the mountain and collated in the ravines and then flowed into the waterways downstream where there are settlements. Sometimes, the rain falls up the mountain without the people downstream knowing and when this happens, the water collates and may surprise people downstream,” he said.

On his part, the South West Regional Delegate of Environment and Nature Protection, Set Ekwadi, said such a phenomenon will be aggravated by climate change.

He, however, added that the high speed of the water was as a result of the lack of forests to absorb the water from the mountain. With the continuous cutting of trees up the mountain, he added, there are little factors to slow the pace of the water from the mountain.

Casualties, damage results of human activities

While the floods were a natural phenomenon, Dr George Mafany Teke, contended that the casualties and the damage resulted from human behaviour.

“The casualties we saw are a result of human behavior, because people have built and encroached into the waterways. So, when water flows down, its paths become blocked and it has to force its way. This is when it overflows and causes this destruction and damage,” Dr Mafany said.

To mitigate the consequences of floods on the people and their property, Set Ekwadi, urged the population to desist from building on gutters or natural waterways.

“People have to avoid building in the gutters, because we have natural water paths from the mountain. When people block them, we cannot challenge nature. People must also reduce the felling of trees in the mountain, so that they can absorb some of the water from the rains,” he noted.