By Mesumbe Nelly in Bangem
Work is expected to resumes on the Bangem – Nguti road early February 2026 officials of the Ministry of public works have announced.
According to the Divisional Delegate for Public Works, Kupe Muanenguba in a chat with Councilor Esong Larry Akang, the construction works resumes after the break imposed by heavy rains by the close of 2025.
This infor mation ECO OUTLOOK was also confirmed by the BIR Commander , the technical unit charged with the road construction works.
On why their equipment were taken away their Ndibsi base, the Commander is reported to have said that, most of the equipment were taken away from their Ndibsi base for maintenance pending resumption of works. Contrary to rumours spreading that attributrd the displacement of the road construction equipment to an abandonment of the work.
The delegate of public works confirmed that some of the heavy duty machines that didn’t need repairs like the excavator and graders were kept at the Divisional Delegation of Public Works Kupe Muanenguba, Bangem for safety while those that needed to be maintained were taken away for the purpose.
He revealed that the public works ministry has budgeted over FCFA 3billion in this year for the phase two of the Bangem – Nguti road project.
The Senior Divisional officer for Kupe Muanenguba corroborated the information on the resumption of work on the road project early Febraury 2026.
It should be noted that the work last year ended along the Eyandong-Elah stretch.
The beneficiary population along the stretch of Bangem-Nguti road have received this information with joy dispelling fears and doubts their minds on the way forward of the project.
“ We are certain that sooner or later this year, the buldozing of the road will certainly enter Babubock and beyond. That will be good development especially for us cocoa farmers, to transport our goods to the market with ease,” says Mr Ngome Charles, cocoa farmer in Babubock.
Experts say the mainstay of Kupe-Muanenguba Division is agriculture, with coffee and cocoa primarily produced for export. The division is also the country’s leading producer of plantains which are principally supplied to markets in the nearby Littoral Region—an asset that has been recognized by the government which has decided to establish a plantain processing factory in Bangem.
Palm oil is produced mainly in Nguti Subdivision following the establishment of a major oil palm company in the area. Subsistence farming involves the production of food-crops like cassava, cocoyams, maize, beans,sweet yams, sweet potatoes, ‘Irish’ potatoes, and bananas.
Livestock rearing concerns primarily pigs, goats, sheep, and free-range chicken, while fishing occupies a proportion of the population principally in Nguti Subdivision.
Cattle rearing is exclusively carried out by Fulani (Bororo) herders on the Muanenguba Mountain for local consumption. Though in decline, hunting is practised in parts of KMD, which also produces timber. There are no industries or banks in the division and a few fledgling cooperatives which aim to provide financial services are yet to cover the entire Division, a situation that has encouraged the practice of hoarding across the board.
“While it may not be expedient to expect an all-season road network covering the whole division overnight, it can be expected that the construction of anasphalt road linking the three subdivisions of Kupe-Muanenguba Division and connecting the division to nearby divisions will be beneficial in many respects: it will, among other things, open up the division, boost social and economic development, including through investment and structured tourism, improve the movement of people, goods and services in general, contribute to poverty alleviation by facilitating the transportation of agricultural produce to the market, thereby increasing farmers’ incomes, enhance trade, and curtail rural to urban migration through the creation of gainful employment especially among the youth,” says Mr Ngede Metuge Samuel in a write up on, ‘ The impacts of roads in the socio economic development of KupeMuanenguba.”
The Bangem-Nguti road under construction