BANGEM: Mayor: EKUH OJEH Simon Number of municipal councilors: 35 Surface Area: 1500 km2 Density: 13 persons/km2 Number of inhabitants: 19,775 Date of creation: 1963 Social infrastructures: • 34 primary (government, mission and lay private) 4 nursery and four secondary and 2 high schools in the municipality. There is also a Teachers Training College in Bangem. • 11 state integrated health centers (IHC), 1 Presbyterian health center (PHC), 2 Local health attendant centers (LHC) and 2 cottage pharmacies. • 2 organized markets and other small markets. • Gendarmerie Brigade • 1 grand stand • 1 developing football field • 1 women empowerment center • 5 motels • A cooperative credit union • Bangem Post office • Chunge cooperative credit union • Express Union • Prestige Hotel • Two restaurants Municipal assets: • 4 main markets • Forest reserves: the Bakossi national park, Bayang Mbo and the Muanenguba integral ecological reserve. • Community halls • Touristic sites like the Bakossi National Park, Mt. Muanenguba, Muanengumba twin Lakes, Opportunities: • Soils: dominated by volcanic soils. Generally the soils across the Bangem municipality are volcanic, hydro orphic and ferralitic. This makes it possible for a wide range of plants to be cultivated. In some places, they are interrupted with sandy, clay, loam and sedimentary soils which are also very good for crop production. • Flora and Vegetation: Muanenguba region is in the humid tropics, which has tropical rainforest vegetation. The region has a transition from equatorial rainforest at its borders, to sub montane and montane forest, shrubs and grassland. It has one of the best-developed sub montane forests in West Africa and it is rich in montane endemics of guinea Congolian affinity. Species found here include; Ricinodendron heudoletti (njangsa), cashew nuts, Mushrooms, Irvingia gabonensis (Bush Mango), bush pepper, Garcinia lucida (cola nuts), Afromomum spp (alakata pepper), Garcinia Kola (bitter cola), Nitium Africana (Eru), Gnetum Africanum (country onion) and Prunus Africana. • Fauna: wildlife include; Deer, Hare, Grass cutter, Porcupine. Wild birds include; Eagles, Vultures etc. Some species observed in this zone include the stonechat, scatly francolin, African harrier hawk, pipits’ species, yellow bishop and red-eyed puff back shrike. Amphibians include; cardioglossa, trafesciata lepplodactylon, erythrogaster and phynodon species. This area also accommodates chameleon, snakes and other reptiles. There is a good population of insects including butterflies, millipedes, and beetles. • Mineral resources: The municipality has gravels and sand, which could be used for road maintenance and construction work. Obstacles: • Public works: poor state of roads because the municipality highly enclave. • Environment and nature protection: environmental degradation due poor techniques on natural resources. • Health: inadequate access to health care and vulnerability of the population to HIV/AIDs due to insufficient funds, insufficient number of staff and low level of sensitization of the population on HIV. • Water and Energy: insufficient water and power supply due to limited tap stands, frequent cuts and low voltage. • Women empowerment and family: Low education of the girl child and low financial situation of women due to unfavorable cultural practices. • Education: limited access to quality education, due to insufficient number of teachers and infrastructure/equipment. Location: • North: Tinto Sub division • South: Konye Sub division • South-east: Bangem and Melong • East: Santchou, Dschang and Fontem • West: Eyumojock and Toko. Number of villages: 63 villages Ethnic groups: 8 namely: the Bangem, Nninong, Muambong, Nhia, Elung, Ebamut, Mbwogmut and Muatan. Economic activities: • Agriculture: crops produced here are divided into two; food crops (plantains, coco yams, maize, sweet yams, cassava, pepper, okra, beans and bananas) and export crops (cocoa, coffee Robusta, green beans and strawberry and fruits such as mangoes, guava, cola nuts and avocado). Over 80% of the population is involved in agriculture which therefore constitutes the basis of the local economy. • Livestock: there is small-scale rearing of pigs, goats, sheep, cows, horses and poultry, mainly as a form of family savings and for ceremonies. • Commerce: Traders buy goods from Kumba, Douala and Bafousam and are distributed in other villages through petit traders who are resident in these villages. There are 5 provision stores, 3 cold stores and 25 off licenses supplying basic commodities within the municipality. • Others include: administration, teaching, petit trading, transportation, hunting, handicrafts, motor cycle riding and forest exploitation. Carried out by (20%) of the population. Bio-physical environment: • Climate: the climate of the Bangem Council area is equatorial, with heavy rainfall fairly well distributed throughout the year and giving rise to forest vegetation and fertile soils. It has two seasons, the dry and rainy season. Generally average rainfall varies between 515mm to 15mm per month around Bangem. Temperatures around Bangem town range from 20.6˚c to 25.5˚c giving a range of about 4.9˚c. • Relief: an area of irregular relief configuration of highlands and lowlands. Plains, deeply grooved valleys and caves, which give a distinct relief feature of the area, interrupt the highlands. There are areas as high as 2,396 meters around Mount Muanenguba. The mountain is of volcanic origin. In fact, it is an extinct volcano. The altitude ranges from 200 to 2,396 meters above sea level. The council area land is of low gradient, punctuated with a few ridges and hills, whose valleys had been deepened by run-off. • Hydrography: The hydrography is made of rivers, streams, and springs and twin lakes.In the hinterlands, these springs and streams which take on different names at different locations serve as vital sources for drinking water. As far as rivers are concerned, the Muanenguba region has about five (5) major rivers with smaller streams emptying their water to them. In the southwestern part of this region, river Chide and river chunge are most prominent. Tributaries to river chide include river muamekum, (Muambong) toe (Ngomin) and chunge (nkincunge). There are a lot of swampy areas here. There are a number of crater lakes, including the Muanenguba twin lakes which are a very significant tourist attraction.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 22:26:34 +0000
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