EBOLOWA, CAMEROON, AFRICA. NOVEMBER 2010 (NEWS.CAMEROON-TODAY.COM)  -  Local population in Ebolowa suffers from price hike and inflow of people as work for Agric Pastoral Show progresses.

Building, road repair and construction activities have reached their peak as all ground work for the 2010 Agro pastoral show in Ebolowa is drawing closer to its stipulated deadlines.

The humungous infrastructure activities and mammoth sized construction projects which are still going on have resulted in bringing in a huge influx of skilled and unskilled laborers from other parts of the continent.

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The large numbers of people who have migrated to the region are not just forcing the concerned officials to make the event a mega extravaganza but have also resulted in a subsequent increase in the cost of living in the region. Prices of food items, essential commodities and other basic amenities are on an all time high and locals are finding it increasingly difficult to manage.

The continent is even otherwise infamous for the various concerns with respect to food scarcity and an event of this scale has resulted in increasing the food demand in the region and there is a growing food scarcity. The demand for basic food items like grains and pulses have gone much beyond the local supply and this has in turn resulted in am alarming increase in prices making even essential food items a luxury for most of the locals.

A shocking fact which most other people who live in other parts of the world cannot even relate to would be that many families in the region are finding it difficult to secure cooking oil and even salt fro their day to day consumption either from lack of availability in the local markets or the prohibitive pricing. Though a shocking story that is difficult to comprehend this is the reality in Ebolowa today.

Though experts for the sake of an argument can put forth a statement that the present food scarcity is due to the fact that people who used to trade in food items and commodities previously have moved over to the farming profession because agriculture and farming need to have more produce to indicate in the jamboree the allegation is not actually true.

It is not just food that is scarce. The same story holds good for amenities also. Electricity and state water supply is also suffering. There have been numerous power cuts owing to the pathetic power situation in the region and water has been less than scarce.

The power and water which is even otherwise not sufficient for the existing population is presently being diverted towards the construction projects intended to beautify the city. The local population of Ebolowa has been without power and water for as much as five whole days much to their dismay just for the sole reason that the region had to host a gala of such size.

Just so that they may bypass these irregularities most bar owners and those in the hotel business have secured stand by electricity generators and water sumps.
The story does not end here. There have been other sectors which have been facing the brunt of the gala event.

The prices of goods and services have also been at their highest ever since the city hasd started preparing for the jamboree. Restaurants have increased the prices of a basic meal by two or three times and hotels have also peaked their room prices. Most business owners have increased their rates wanting to take maximum advantage of this situation which can get them huge profits- a chance which does not come very often in a region like Ebolowa.

One area that does not seemed to have realized the huge potential that an event like this can offer is the public transportation system. In spite of the sudden influx of population into Ebolawa the urban transport seems to be totally ill equipped.

The number of taxis on the roads are so less in number that most people seem to be relying excessively on the commercial motor bikes for going from one place to another. And they have in turn also increased their rates two fold and three fold. Fortunately the number of incidents of accidental deaths among these drivers are fairly less in comparison to their counterparts in other areas and the police in the region deserve appreciation for their constant vigil to make sure that situation do not go out of hand.

The Ebolowa Agric Show will see numerous guests from all parts of the continent flowing into the region to mark their attendance in an event of such a large scale. The guest list is pretty long and has the names of most of the prominent celebrities of not just Cameroon but other countries in the continent as well. The various projects that aim at making the region spic and span are mostly targeted towards these celebrities and State Heads.

Ebolawa has been seeking a makeover for quite sometime and it took an event of such magnitude to give them the much sought after renovation and repair. But the locals have had to suffer in the deal because of the huge migrant population who have come into the region to work on the various improvement projects and the region is evidently not able to handle the sudden population increase as in indicated by the food scarcity, price rise and non availability of amenities.

This should be an eye opener to the government to first understand the capability of a region and to then undertake subsequent development activities on a timely basis so that such regions can always be equipped to handle events of such magnitude.