South: Lolabe community gets three boreholes

Donated by the Engie Cameroon LNG Project, the project was commissioned on June 26, 2015.

About 300 inhabitants of Lolabe, a settlement located about 85 km from Kribi (after the Kribi Deep Seaport and Industrial Complex) in the Ocean Division of the South Region, now have access to potable water for the first time in their lives.

Three boreholes worth over FCFA 25 million and provided by the Engie (defunct GDF Suez) Cameroon Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG Cameroon Project, were commissioned on Friday, June 26, 2015, by the First Assistant Senior Divisional Officer for Ocean, Eyobo Mbonjo Aurelien and the General Manager of Engie, Philippe Miquel.

The boreholes are located in the Lolabe I and Lolabe III communities, with one in the Bagyeli pygmy settlement. Philippe Miquel described the construction of the manual boreholes as part of his company’s commitment to improving the lot of Lolabe people - the site of the Cameroon LNG Project.

He revealed that Engie last year donated tools and equipment to the people in order to boost fishing. Meanwhile, there are plans to inaugurate an elementary school in the coming months for the Bagyeli pygmy settlement of Lolabe.

John Chu Enoh, Director of Infrastructure and Projects Department, National Hydrocarbons Corporation, SNH, who represented his company at the event, said government’s policy is to ensure that people in project sites are not abandoned.

“The Cameroon LNG project is important because as it comes on board, it is necessary to think of the needs of local people like water, health, education and roads,” John Enoh explained. The Chief of Lolabe, Ivouva Meme Blaise, described the construction of the three boreholes as a dream come true, saying it would put an end to water-borne diseases in the area.

Chief Ivouva recalled that as a result of geo-technical and physical studies for the Cameroon LNG Project, the people had to go long distances in order to get drinkable water because local streams dried off.

The Chief said he himself used to take his bath on the shores of the nearby Atlantic Ocean, which was not normal. Mfegue Marguerite, 28, a member of the Bagyeli pygmy community, commended Engie for offering them potable water, saying the time of suffering to get good water was now over for good.