Inhabitants of Sisia in Bamenda, chief town of the North West region of Cameroon have up to this Thursday October 1 to quit the area considered as a risk zone ahead of demolition.

The order was given by the city Mayor, Paul Achobong Wednesday September 30 during his visit to area which recorded a death (8-year-old Blanche Njong) due to landslide which occurred the previous night.

All the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, including the family of the deceased, the Njong’s were asked to quit the risk zone before this Thursday October one or be forced to do so with demolition.

As to where the inhabitants of Sisia in Bamenda III sub-division will move to, Mayor Paul Achobong said it insn’t the issue at hand given that the most important thing is to save their lives.

“The question as to where the people should move to is not apparent at this moment because if they don’t move, the only other option is the grave…” Mayor Achobong said.

They either chose to move or stay and move to the grave. We the authorities of this city do not want anybody to move to the grave…” He further said, adding that he will be coming back to ensure the order has been respected.

It is said that a land has been allocated for the population of Sisia at Mile Five Nkwen but some of them have expressed the worry of not knowing how to acquire the said land to build better shelters.

Located on the highlands, Sisia is considered as one of the risk zones in the city of Bamenda declared unfit for human settlement.

That notwithstanding, people have been constructing in the area due to lack of means.

In October 2015, a project aimed at improving on the living conditions of Sisia inhabitants, especially those living in slums sponsored by the UN Habitat, the Cameroon Government through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, ERA-Cameroon as implementing partner and FEICOM as the financial partner saw the light of the day.

Five years after, the fruits of the project are yet to be visible.