By Prince Mundi Tanda*
Bangolan, a once-thriving village in Cameroon’s Babessi subdivision, now finds itself gripped by a severe humanitarian crisis. The ongoing Anglophone conflict in the North West and South West Regions has not only shattered the village’s economy but also left its only source of clean drinking water in ruins. With no access to safe water, the over 10,000 residents of Bangolan are suffering the grim consequences of thirst and disease.
The water catchment, located on a hillside in the Lupeng neighborhood, was once a beacon of hope. Spring water, treated and channeled through a network of taps, provided the village with a reliable source of safe drinking water. However, as violence spread, this vital lifeline was destroyed. The taps, once fed by the Scan Water Project, now sit dry, leaving villagers with no option but to drink raw water from rivers and wells.
“We’ve been suffering terribly since the water system was destroyed,” lamented sexagenarian Shetou Ndi, who, like many other residents of the village, now walks long distances to fetch water, albeit her age. “We drink raw water straight from the rivers because there’s no way to treat it. Most of us have fallen sick.”
Spike in waterborne diseases
The consequences of drinking untreated water have been devastating. According to a health worker at the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) Health Center in Nchotchimbere, Bangolan. The health worker who did not want to be named, told this reporters that the village has seen a spike in cases of typhoid, diarrhea, and other waterborne diseases. Like the CBC Health center, medical facilities in the village, already strained due to the armed conflict, are now overwhelmed by a surge in patients from the preventable waterborne diseases.
The situation has been worsened by the collapse of the Bangolan Development Association (BANDA), which once financed the water system, villagers suggest. The village’s annual February festival, a key event where sons and daughters in and out of the country would return home and contribute to development projects, has not been holding since 2016. A chieftaincy crisis erupted in the village in 2016 forcing organisers to halt organisation of the annual festival. This has been further compounded by the ongoing armed conflict as reigning insecurity prevents sons and daughters of Bangolan from visiting, leaving their village to struggle in isolation.
Many residents express frustration over the absence of their ruler, Fon Chafah Isaac, who has been out of the village since 2016, following an attempt by some disgruntled youths to dethrone him. “If our Fon was still involved in village matters, things would have been different,” a former BANDA exco member said. His voice tinged with regret. “He would have found a way to solve this crisis.
Resident feel abandoned by gov’t
Local elite say their efforts to restore the water system have been hindered by a chronic lack of financial resources as the village economy is reeling from the devastating effects of the Anglophone crisis. Besides the village development association, the locals feel abandoned by the government.
“We are trying, but progress is painfully slow, and we feel neglected and abandoned even by our own government,’’ said a local elite, requesting anonymity.
Mberuh Pascal, another resident of Bangolan, expressed deep frustration over the economic hardships triggered by the ongoing crisis, which he says has made it impossible for his family to access clean drinking water. “We can’t even afford simple filters to help us treat the well water before drinking,” Mberuh lamented. “I see some people using filters to make their water safer, but for my children and I, that’s a luxury. We are struggling just to feed ourselves, let alone buy a water filter.”
As the dry season approaches, the situation is said to be grimmer. Thousands of people are in dire need of clean water, and yet the village, surrounded by water from the Bamenjing Dam and the Noun River, remains parched. Most people struggle to buy water, though the quality is not the best.
Even those willing to pay must wake up at 4 a.m. to beat the long queues that form at the well, as the demand far outweighs the supply.
The water scarcity has disrupted daily life in unimaginable ways, residents attest. Children, already enduring the trauma of conflict, are forced to skip school or arrive late as they trek long distances in search of water. Women, too, are delayed in reaching their farms, their mornings consumed by the search for this precious resource.
Despite the hardships, the people of Bangolan remain resilient, though their calls for help grow louder by the day. They are appealing to the government and well-wishers to come and assuage their sufferings.
“We cannot continue like this,” Shetou Ndi cried out. “We are calling on anyone who can help. Our children are falling sick, our farms are neglected, and we are living in fear. Please, come to our rescue.”
Cruel-irony of village surrounded by water
In a village surrounded by water, Bangolan’s plight is a cruel irony—a people dying of thirst, waiting for the world to hear their cries. The situation in Bangolan is not unique, as neighboring villages like Bambalang and Babessi are also suffering from the same water crisis.
Access to clean and safe drinking water remains a critical issue in Cameroon, with significant disparities between urban and rural areas. Despite improvements in recent years, many Cameroonians—particularly those in rural areas—continue to struggle to access this basic necessity.
According to the country’s ten-year development blueprint, the National Development Strategy (SND30), 61% of the population had access to safe drinking water in 2014. However, the situation was notably worse in rural areas, where fewer than 50% of households had access to clean water. By contrast, more than 80% of urban households benefited from improved water services.
Progress has been made, as highlighted in Cameroon’s Voluntary National Review in 2020, where national household access to drinking water rose to 79.4%. While this represents a positive shift, significant challenges remain, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable segments of the population, who still lack reliable access to clean water.
The disparities underscore the need for further investment and development in water infrastructure, especially as the country strives to meet the goals outlined in its SND30 and align with global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) number six, which aims at ensuring universal access to clean water by 2030.
*Prince Mundi Tanda is a journalist, news presenter and reporter with Vision 4 television in Yaounde.
First published in NewsWatch newspaper No 189 of Thursday October 24, 2024
