BUKILSDA: THE HOPE OF THE LAKE NYOS GAS DISASTER VICTIMS?
The Buabua-Kimbi Lake Nyos Survivors Development and Cultural Association, BUKILSDA, was created in 2004 by a group of elites, including the Founding President, Mary Kimbi, Fai Bah Martin, Ban Michael, Late Ban Christopher, Ngong Sylvanus, Balah Felix Tumbong, and Nuh Esther, among others.
Among other objectives, the Association was created to encourage and instill hope in the lives of the Lake Nyos survivors found in Boyo Division, North West Region, specifically in resettlement areas of Kimbi and Buabua. It aimed to create awareness of the plight of the Lake Nyos survivors, carry out development projects in the fields of Education, Health, and Infrastructure, encourage the Survivors to be enterprising, and advocate for better social amenities from the Government and other development organizations.
Branches were established in Yaounde, Bamenda, the Diaspora, and the Home Branches; Kimbi and Buabua. Annually, members of BUKILSDA converge either in Kimbi or Buabua, rotatively on the 21st of August, the anniversary of the Lake Nyos Gas Disaster, to remember long-gone relatives and reflect on the plight of the living and their descendants. This has been going on successfully until the socio-political crisis broke out in the North West and South West Regions, bringing everything to a standstill.
The Lake Nyos Gas Disaster resettlement camps in Buabua and Kimbi have suffered great losses in the course of the ongoing crisis, leaving many homeless and bereaved. The Association is working to assist those who are reconstructing houses that were either reduced to rubble or destroyed by belligerents. There’s also a campaign to repopulate Su- Bum by encouraging survivors to return to the rich and fertile land of their ancestors. In this light, the Association has secured funding from a non-governmental organization, NKUMU FED FED, for the construction of two classrooms in Su-Bum.
Since its creation in 2004, the 20-year-old Association has achieved a number of successes. These include but are not limited to lobbying for the creation of Government Technical College Kimbi and Government Secondary School Buabua, which all started as community schools managed by the Association. It also lobbied for the construction of a health Centre in Buabua, initiated the construction of the Fundong – Buabua Road, and finally gained sponsorship from GP DERUDEP/African Development Bank. The Association awarded scholarships to some pupils and students, created strong ties with other development Associations such as Abasakom Development and Cultural Association, gained a UNDP reconstruction project of Subum (which is still pending), and supported the water project in Kimbi.
Even though the two villages of Kimbi and Buabua today have separate Development Associations, BUKILSDA continues to enjoy relevance as it caters only to the interests of survivors of the disaster, duly registered at the Ministry of Territorial Administration.
The Association has been led for the past twenty years by a charismatic lady, Madame Mary Kimbi