The Governor of the South region on an official visit to the Ebolowa sawmill
The new Governor of the South Region, Mr. Félix Nguele Nguele, paid an official visit to the Ebolowa sawmill on Wednesday, March 3, as part of his contact tour with companies in the region following his appointment last November.
The Governor and the accompanying delegation visited the sawmill under the detailed explanations of Mr. Boris Nwokam, one of the heads of the Ebolowa sawmill. The ongoing installation of the third wood processing line and three drying chambers with a capacity of 100 m3 each, which will generate more than 100 additional jobs in the next few months, was welcomed. The Governor has asked that the sawmill be able to “grow gradually with beautiful and tall buildings”. The Director of General Affairs, Mr. Emmanuel Mpouma, representing the General Manager, recalled during his address to the Governor that Cameroon United Forests employs 600 people in the Southern Region including 253 directly at the sawmill of Ebolowa, out of its 900 employees.
The CUF contribution to the socio-economic development of the region was particularly highlighted during this visit. Each year, more than 600 million FCFA are paid back to the State under the Annual Forest Fees based on the operation titles all located in the South region and more than 200 million go directly to municipalities and village communities for socio economic achievements in their localities. In addition to this, the CUF grants a budget of about 3 million per logging plot operated each year for the realization of micro-projects of the riverside villages related to the plot concerned. The CUF also contributes to the annual maintenance of approximately 250 km of the southern road network and conducts various social activities in the region: support for sports activities, pygmy camps, to orphanages, a leprosy health center etc. The Governor highly appreciated this social side of CUF, as well as the good relations among the employees. He asked the workers to “keep their jobs and respect their leaders” and concluded by expressing the wish that CUF could supply electricity to the official gallery of Ebolowa, which is just in front of the sawmill.
