Councilors of Ndu Council Adopt FCFA 600 Million for 2014

By Fai Cassian Ndi

Bunyui Emmanuel flanked by Donga Mantung SDO

The budget which stands at FCFA 600 million in income and expenditure was adopted during a budgetary session on Friday January 3, 2013. During the session, councilors of the Ndu council unanimously adopted a budget of FCFA 600 million for 2014. Addressing councilors at the session, Bunyui Emmanuel, the mayor of Ndu called on councilors to be conscious of the fact that the time for politicking has past and this is time for work. The needs of the population he said ranges from potable water, opening of roads and street lights for the main streets in Ndu town. According to Bunyui Emmanuel Nyugap, the draft budget of FCFA 600 million is not money that has been stocked somewhere but money that will be raised locally. Harping on how the budget will be realized, the mayor called on council staff, councilors as well as the population of Ndu including those elite(s) on the other side of the political divide to close ranks so that as a united force they will work for the development of the municipality.

On whether the budget was realistic, the mayor said the council intends to set up a livestock farm which will serve as an additional source of revenue. The livestock farm he added will principally engage into animal production, fattening and marketing given that Ndu market offers a potential outlet for the animals.

On his part, the SDO for Donga Mantung Division expressed gratitude to the councilors for their maturity during deliberations. He said the budget of FCFA 600 million was quite realistic given the position of the council as the economic capital of Donga Mantung Division. Ngone Ndodemesape Bernard encouraged councilors and council executive to work hand in hand with the population for the colossal budget to be realized. He jog the memory of the councilors that they should work for the interest of the people who elected them and that as councilors they have to throw off their political jackets to work for the interest of the municipality. The SDO encouraged the mayor and his executive to work in close collaboration with the council technicians in order to achieve his set objectives. To the councilors, he prescribed that the mayor needs their frank collaboration for Ndu municipality to emerge with others by 2035. 
Accordingly, he said the greatest of which is tax evasion by motor cycle riders and other business men and women in the municipality. At this point the Mayor called on councilors to go back to the drawing boards in their respective villages and school their populations on the need to pay taxes.

In the deliberations that ensued, councilors demonstrated their mastery of council matters by asking interesting questions on some of the budget heads. The questions were however watered down by adequate responses from the Mayor or his deputies, or the secretary general and the municipal treasurer.

It should be noted that Bunyui Emmanuel Nyugap said the main priority for the municipality is to improve to access to potable water. Ndu town it should be recalled has always registerd water scarcity due to the abusive cultivation of eucalyptus trees in water catchments and around watersheds. Popular opinion in Ndu holds that the new mayor would likely take the town out from the doldrums by providing them with potable water. If water as they say is life, the decision by the mayor to prioritize water in the municipality laudable another school of thought holds. To Ndzi Emmanuel, a trader in Ndu town, the choice of projects by the council meets up with their aspirations.

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