The city Mayor of the Bamenda City Council, Achobong Paul Tambeng has been honored with The Prime International award for his contribution to urban and housing development, this according to a certification presented to the Mayor on Sunday September 13th in Bamenda.
The recognition followed a survey conducted by members of the Prime International award covering various categories.
After a careful review of files submitted by nominees, Achobong Paul Tambeng was voted the Best City Mayor in Urban and Housing Development and property Development.
The Bamenda City Mayor Achobong Paul Tambeng has described his receipt of the Prime International Award as a “new beginning”, saying the recognition should serve as motivation to accelerate efforts to transform the city.
Speaking after receiving the award, Paul Achubong likened the moment to a space shuttle gaining additional thrust after its first combustion stage is released.
“This award today represents to me the time for a new beginning,” he said. “It means now that the speed must be doubled so as to get further into space.”
The recognition comes with greater expectations and should encourage the city administration to intensify work on some of Bamenda’s persistent challenges, including waste management and urban development.
According to the award organisers, the recognition was intended to encourage people who had chosen to remain in the crisis-hit regions and contribute to their communities and the country's development with Mayor Achobong selected in particular for his role in expanding the planned World Bank-funded urban roads project in Bamenda.
“Initially, the urban crossing project by the World Bank was supposed to be 18 kilometres,” the representative said. “But when he came into the picture, he said, let's increase it to 32.”
The expansion was significant because infrastructure development often stimulates economic activity and broader development along road corridors.
“For this reason alone, he is supposed to be appreciated,” the representative said, adding that awards were generally a way of saying thank you for work already done.
On garbage collection, the City Mayor described the situation as a complex, nationwide problem, saying the company responsible for waste collection has faced difficulties because of unpaid state obligations. While the Bamenda city council has at times intervened directly to collect waste when the service provider has been unable to operate effectively.
The representative credited the mayor with bringing in a private contractor, Empire Group, to help manage waste in Bamenda, saying the company was working within the resources available to it.
“They are doing what they can. They are doing with the resources they have,” he said. But more needed to be done to restore Bamenda's reputation as one of the cleanest cities in the country.
“Like Oliver Twist was asking for more, we want to see Bamenda come back to its original position as the cleanest city in Bamenda, as it used to be in those days.”
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