How Will HIPC Completion Point Be Felt In Back -To-School Preparations?

Compiled By  Kini Nsom, Nformi Sonde Kinsai, Francis Tim Mbom , Olive Ejang, Loveline Mbori, Leocadia Bongben, & Namondo Mbonde (UB Journalism Student On Internship In Buea)

It Is Only On Paper 

I feel this HIPC completion point will not be felt in this year's school preparations because it is only on paper. It has not gone down to meet everybody. Life is still normal and even much difficult.

I believe this completion point will be felt in subsequent back-to-school positively. 
Simon Gobina, Director Home Box Video, Buea   

Nothing Yet To Show  For
I am sending back five children to school. Reaching the completion point has not helped in any way because we are still to feel any positive changes in our businesses as a consequence. However, we are trying to procure our children's needs for this first term.

Those for the second and third terms will be handled later. We may only start to witness or feel the effects of HIPC when government would have started major projects like roads, providing free potable water to the population, increasing civil servants' salaries and providing for other basic services.
John Forka, Limbe New Business Centre

Things Are Still Very Difficult
  I have four children: three in primary school and one in the secondary school. But things are still very difficult. We have not seen any changes as a result of the HIPC completion point. We as Bamilekes, we have our 'njangi' saving scheme, which usually bails us out during this period. In the course of the year, whenever you have a thousand francs, you go and drop it there.
David Terje, President of Fako Highway Transporters Syndicate

HIPC Goodies Still Pipe Dream
We still face the same situation we faced last year, even though we have reached the completion point. Reaching HIPC completion point is one thing, reaping the fruits is another. So we are yet to see the fallouts.

I do not think there is any change for now. But we hope there will be changes. We as parents have to do every thing we can, even if it means going the extra miles to make some financial engagements just to make sure that our kids go back to school. Education is the best thing a parent can offer to the child.
Charles Fobid, West Coast Idenau

Nothing To Help Parents
The HIPC completion point has done nothing to help parents prepare their children to go back to school. It is difficult to send children back to school because things are more expensive. I thought the cancellation of Cameroon's debt was going to make life easy but it is more difficult. I am financially handicapped. As a contract teacher, I have no salary during this holiday, how do my children go to school?
Emilia Liengu Mbua, Contract Teacher, Buea.

More hardship
I do not think the completion point will help parents, because the economy is growing worst everyday. It seems the completion point has brought more hardship to parents than usual. Price increase of goods and services is beyond our control and I think the government is encouraging rather than alleviating poverty.

How can we then prepare our children for school? Only God alone will wipe the tears of Cameroonians and I beg parents to forget about HIPC, work hard and depend on God almighty that will not fail.

The government should stop breaking our hearts with big words like HIPC Completion Point. Government should tar our roads, to reduce transport fare especially as back to school is at hands.
Adolf Ediengo Ajang,Builder, Fiango, Kumba

Impact Not Felt
The HIPC initiative has not been felt by most Cameroonians. We do not even know if such aids has been given to Cameroon because the impact is not felt and nothing is done to change the poor condition of the citizens. On the contrary, prices of goods are very high now in most cities.

Taxi fare and price for books have increased, how will our children go back to school? Eventually the standard of living has dropped as people go hungry everyday, children will not be able to go back to school thus they join the street gangs as thieves. Where is the future of our children? Something has to be done now to safeguard the future of young Cameroonians.
Prudence Assah, Teacher Kumba

Political Slogan To Deceive
The much noise of HIPC completion point is just a slogan to deceive the masses and the international community. Cameroonians are still to start feeling the impact of HIPC completion point. We are foreseeing more hardships especially with the increase in fuel prices. School preparation is still a dream to most parents, as many cannot afford daily meals.

This year may be worst because parents shall not meet up with the daily taxi fare for their children. Parents should forget about HIPC and struggle to send their children to school with the limited resources. The government should provide social amenities to the people to uplift their standard of living.
Lazarus Tuma, SW Regional Manager, ESICO

Impossible To Feel Impact Now
HIPC completion point cannot be felt so soon. To me, the whole thing is still in process. From the analyses of journalists, I see that it is impossible to feel the impact of the completion point during back-to-school preparations because if it were to be felt, it would have come through salary increase or a reduction of taxes.

But none of these has been done. So how then can we feel it? Prices of books and other school items are skyrocketing and book dealers pay heavy taxes. Let the government tell us if, and how we can feel this completion point in the back to school preparations.
Mary Aban, CCAST Bambili

Gov't Is Taking Us For A Ride
I always think that government is taking us for a ride, each time it puts up slogans like completion point, health for all by the year 2000. They try to move Cameroonians away from thinking of their present needs. There is nothing as completion point. I have not felt an inch. As of now, I do not have a pen for my children to go back to school not to talk of a 20-leaf exercise book.

I am not even sure that he will resume school this academic year because it is embarrassing to me to hear that there is money somewhere kept for certain parents to send their children to school.  My enrolment may go down as for now one or two weeks before schools resume, I have not registered up to 10 pupils. Poverty has eaten deep into every parent.
Livinus Essambe, Head Teacher, Yaounde

Hard Work Needed 
I do not think HIPC completion point will be felt in the back-to-school preparations because no money has been given to Cameroon and salaries have not been increased. If I were the government, I would tell Cameroonians the truth that the HIPC completion point cannot be felt right now.

As I know, it is a long process, because nothing tangible has been achieved and no money generated. We have to work hard before we can begin feeling it. Let me tell you that the back-to-school period is a very difficult moment for both parents and students. The rise in fuel prices, taxes and other items is really making life a nightmare.

The salaries we earn are just a hand-to-mouth issue making it difficult to meet up with the high demands. Civil servants have taken overdrafts and loans at cutthroat interest rates.  I tell you that it is really a burden on us parents.
Gilbert Awemo-CCAS Kumba

The Situation Is Getting Worse
HIPC completion point cannot be felt at all in the back-to-school preparations. We parents have gotten loans and overdrafts from banks and 'Njangi' houses to buy the items that our children need for school but it is still very insignificant.

Prices of articles have risen and it is even worse because new books have been introduced in the syllabuses so we have to put aside the old ones and prepare our children from square one.

The completion point cannot be felt at our level at all. If government reduces taxes and prices of articles and increases salaries then, it could be felt. As if to make things worse for parents, school authorities insist on having all the fees paid in advance and books presented before children are being admitted in schools.
Gideon Taka, Station Manager, Radio Hot Coca

Things Are More Expensive
The completion point is not a large sum of money that would be given to parents or workers to spend. The money is to be used to sponsor projects.  About our children going back to school, we will not feel the effect of the HIPC completion point because things are more expensive. Due to a rise in the price of petrol, transport fare has increased; the standard of living is decreasing due to inflation. What is the effect of the completion point?
Robert Njei Anong, Provincial Chief of Service for Quality control Of Agricultural Products and inputs, Buea

We Still Survive On Meagre Salaries
I do not think the HIPC completion point will be felt in this year's back-to-school preparations, because salaries of civil servants have not been increased and taxes not reduced. We will only survive with the meagre salaries that we earn.

The thing is that as parents, we cannot keep our children at home so we must try and let them go back to school by using the little means at our disposal. I have just advanced the fees of my children because I can't pay it all at once.

Parents prefer paying in installments because the fees are too heavy on them. Those of us with children in mission schools are really in trouble because of the huge amount we pay. There is no drop in school fees and school articles. Some books are even more expensive because they are newly introduced in the syllabuses.
Mrs. Clementine Nain-Parent

HIPC Is Like An Imagination
The completion point just came like a windfall kind of announcement and not actually in concrete terms. There is no material or money from this completion point making it just an imagination. I don't think it will be felt in this back to school preparation.
Martin Wose,Provincial Chief of Service Delegation of  Culture, Buea

Parents In HIPC Sponsored Projects Benefit
I think parents who have projects sponsored by HIPC will feel it. You know there are some parents operating businesses sponsored by HIPC. We of the Bambili Cooperative Credit Union during this period assist parents by granting them loans. Whether the HIPC completion point will reach parents or not, we do our best to give both the normal and School Fee Loans to parents up to a maximum of FCFA 500.000, but for a shorter duration. Parents have been coming in their numbers to get the loans.
John Tanjong-Manager,Bambili Cooperative Credit Union

Gov't Is Deceiving The People
What they call HIPC completion point is just a political statement the government is using to blindfold Cameroonians. There is nothing like the completion point. You see me trekking, but I have a car that I am unable to repair.

Instead of increasing salaries for us to feel what they call HIPC completion point, the government has indirectly reduced salaries by increasing the prices of fuel, taxes and other goods. My house is almost collapsing and I cannot repair it. My children are still waiting for me to prepare them for school but I have no money. To me, Cameroon is still to reach the HIPC Completion Point so we cannot be talking of feeling it now.
Andrew Ndofor, Parent

It Is Only Over Media 
I think this year it will not be felt because we have heard about the HIPC completion point only over the media. At the ground level we feel nothing about the HIPC completion point, I do not think it will be felt in back-to-school preparations.
Frederic Guelemo, Provincial Chief of Service Rural Engineering, Buea

Non-Event
We are just worrying ourselves in this nation because HIPC completion point is a non-event to the people. Only the state tycoons can tell us what HPIC completion point means and how they will better prepare their children for school. Is completion point going to reduce fees in our schools or the prices of books?

Parents should not be embarrassed by expecting more hardship but rather set the pace for their children for school. If the government wants the completion point to be felt by all, she should open more schools with resources, reduce prices of fuel and basic commodities.
Pastor Njea Balimba, Apostolic Church, Banga Bakundu

No Impact
It has not had any impact on me because there is no cash flow in the country on which to sustain life. Nothing comes out of the little jobs we do. For the moment it is a difficult situation because so many people are in a rush to collect money from banks and credit unions and the money is not enough for the children.
Muma Magdelene Yaounde

No Difference
I do not see any difference because prices of goods are high. I was thinking that the HIPC completion point was going to make things cheap. But I do not see any difference. At the level of education, schools would be opened in the suburbs for the benefit of every body. So I think that at that level it is ok. I knew nothing was going to change.
Ramatu Salisu, NFC staff Yaounde

Comments

[Chim]

Cameroonians are a docile lot. Elections are just around the corner, and I wonder what they will be telling Cameroonians this time around. Yesterday just like the writer said Mafany told Cameroonians to tighten their belts and sacrifice like never before because better days were around the corner come completion point. Now the much waited completion point has been achieved and Inoni is out telling Cameroonians again to continue sacrificing and wait for better days ahead. The questions now are: - (1) Are the better days for eternity?, (2) are Cameroonians waiting for another completion point?, (3) for elections next year when salaries will be increased, fuel prices decreased, and all other consumable prices brought down to earth by the CPDM government so that Cameroonians will be happy to vote and maintain them in power?, or (4) is there some hidden agenda by Inoni up his sleeve that will be sprung to stop Cameroonians from going to the streets?. The questions are so many with answers blowing in the wind. My brother, this country is a time bomb that will explode any moment. It will start from anywhere at anytime. Those pushing Cameroonians continuously to the wall will render an account when the time comes. GOD SAVE US. Emmanuel Chim.

[Dr A A Agbormbai]

The assessments are unanimous that the HIPC completion point is not yet being felt by the masses.

However, almost all the complaints are based on the destructive tendencies of inflation, fuelled by the monthly increases in fuel prices (in addition to bad roads). Without something being urgently done about this, I'm afraid that the economy is only going to get worse, and the poverty levels are going to exacerbate even more. I am curious to know what steps the government is taking to address this problem.

The second point that is very relevant here is the justifiable stringency that has been introduced into the project application process, in order to put a check on all the fraudulent activities that had bemoaned this process.

Project applicants now need more than adequate training in constructing rigorous and well thoughtout project proposals that can meet the required standards.

With many proposals currently failing the test, because Cameroonians are not yet used to rigour and morality, it is no surprise that HIPC-fund consumption has been poor. The guiding rule here is that all project proposals must be underpinned by honesty; and appropriate analyses, calculations, and explanations must be given as justifications for the project costs.

The population will have to be patient while it learns to cope with Western standards. All it has to do is work harder, as there is no turning back!