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Cameroon: Buea Inhabitants Cry for Water, Cooking Gas
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The Post (Buea)
11 April 2008
Posted to the web 11 April 2008
Ernest Sumelong
Buea
Buea inhabitants now face problems getting regular water supply and cooking gas. The absence of cooking gas came recently to add to the perennial problem of intermittent water supply.
Most households that depend on these basic facilities find it difficult to manage domestic chores. At times, local inhabitants, most of who use modern toilet services, could go for three to four days without water supply, causing many homes to stink.
In localities where the people rely on a single tap for the entire community, people are usually seen crowding the place for hours waiting for the precious liquid to flow. The population is vexed by the fact that authorities of the National Water Corporation, SNEC, do not bother to justify the situation, but issue skyrocketing bills regularly and impose close to FCFA 5,000 on those who default in prompt payment. Also, SNEC officials have often been faulted for treating its clients poorly.
Beside the tall price of gas that now stands at FC 8,000, local inhabitants cannot find it. Gas vendors say the shortage is at the level of the production centres."Everything has become very difficult; we cannot cook, prices of basic foodstuff have remained high and there is nobody to enforce government's decision," a housewife told me.
Meanwhile, government's price reduction for April has not been heeded to in Buea. Quarrels between buyers and vendors have become commonplace since most vendors do not respect the new prices. Worst still, farmers have insisted they would tag their products as they deem fit, since government cannot price their farm produce for them.
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After local authorities confiscated and auctioned cement, cement vendors developed a rat and cat game with the administrators. Most of them, The Post learnt, display the official prices but sell higher to desperate customers without issuing receipts.
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