Bakassi: Or the Politics of Exclusion and Occupation?

Chapter 9. Water and Sanitation, Health Facilities, Education, Social Infrastructure and Services

255 Chapter 9 Water and Sanitation, Health Facilities, Education, Social Infrastructure and Services Water and Sanitation The exploration area has numerous sources of water. Streams and rivers flowing through the region serve as a key source of water. These rivers and streams are not protected and become vectors of waterborne infections since they are used for washing, waste disposal and drinking. Njangassa is located on hilly land and has numerous natural streams that are used for drinking water (see Figure 9.1). Figure 9.1 Natural Streams are a Source of Water for Home Consumption, Njangassa 256 Some wells and boreholes have been drilled, but the water extracted from these is salty. Some of the villages have relatively good sources of pipe-borne water e.g. Ekondo Titi and Mundemba, as such people travel by engine driven canoe or car to these villages to collect drinking water. Some residents also use rain water for washing and bathing. The sanitation system in the region is generally poor. In all the villages toilets are constructed in close proximity to these water sources. In many of the fishing villages (e.g. Bekumu) people are still using what are popularly called ‘Sawa toilets’; there are two types those that are suspended on stilts over the water, and the bare ground. There are no public sanitation workers in the villages and towns. Health facilities The hygiene conditions of the fishing camps are very poor and precarious since there is no pipe borne water and no latrines. Even the surrounding sea-coast growing villages like Bamusso and the densely populated fishing village like Bekumu are still using what are popularly called “Sawa toilettes”. The “Sawa toilets” are the mangrove bushes and the sea shores which serve as open toilets since the people do not usually have latrines. There are two types of SAWA toilets in the area, the one suspended on stilts over the water, and the bare ground at the beach (see pictures a, b, c, d). People take to the habit of defecating along the sea shores or squatting on the mangrove branches for the sea water to wash away the feces. This is also true of dump recycling where all the kitchen and household waste are dumped into the creeks and in the sea without any reservations thus contributing to the high pollution rate and of water borne diseases on the coast line and the mangroves. This contributes to the high health hazards in the entire zone. 257 a) Man defecating in the water (b) Malnourished baby (c) Faeces on sandy beach (d) A suspended toilet in Bukumu The common diseases in the fishing camps are diarrhoea, malaria, typhoid fever, and dysentery, cholera, STDs/STIs, HIV/AIDS, rheumatism, arthritis, etc. Preventive medicine and vaccination campaign missions sporadically intervene in the various camps. These are carried out by both the public administrative agents and the religious denominations. These have contributed to check to some extent the spread of diseases. Health services like health centres, clinics and pharmacies are lacking in nearly all the fishing villages except in villages like Kesse, Bamusso and Bekumu which have health centres. But these centres are often without adequate stock of medicines and personnel. The inhabitants of the fishing camps and villages are forced to buy medicines from traffickers; and for those who are better off financially, they are forced to go to Nigeria, Limbe or to Ekondo Titi for good medical care when they fall seriously ill. As for drugs they are usually 258 supplied by the drug hawkers who come all the way from Nigeria and Idenau to sell retailed cheaper drugs than the official drugs found in pharmacies. Traditional medical practitioners and herbalists also play a great role in this region where medical facilities are hard to come by and prescribed drugs very costly. For instance, rheumatism and arthritis are treated with a concoction of roots, tree barks and locally distilled alcohol known as “Juju-bottle”, also reputed for its aphrodisiac quality. Good health facilities are found only in the mainland villages like Ekondo Titi, Idenau. Health Care There are various levels of health care facilities in Cameroon. Table 8.1 illustrates these levels of health care and provides a summary of the roles of each facility. 259 The health care facilities like district hospitals, health centres and pharmacies are lacking in many of the villages in the area except in some of the...