FONDATION FOR ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (FEDEV) & 1 OR. .Vs. BAMENDA CITY COUNCIL, BAMENDA II COUNCIL AND BAMENDA 111 COUNCIL. (HCB/19/08)

The case concerns poor urban waste management and disposal, land and water pollution, environmental right and access to environmental information. This is a public interest litigation commenced by the Foundation for Environment and Development (FEDEV) against three municipal government authorities in Bamenda, in the Mezam Division of North West Province of Cameroon. Under the Council laws and laws on Decentralization in Cameroon, Municipal Councils are in charge waste management within their municipalities. The issue is that Bamenda Urban Council had been dumping waste at a place called Atuanki, Mile 6 Mankon for more than a decade thus polluting the whole area right to the highway as well as the adjacent Mezam River. This Urban Council was succeeded in 2006 by the Bamenda City Council, Bamenda II and III councils and they continued with the environmentally hazardous actions. They clean all the urban waste (untreated waste composed of all sorts of materials) from their respective municipalities and dump at this particular area. The waste is sump on surface land the adjacent population settled in the area composed of about 40 families. Part of the waste directly goes into the Mezam River which is used by thousands of people down stream. Inhabitants of the area have written several complaints to the authorities but no remedy could come by. FEDEV started following up the matter in 2006. But 2008 the situation was deplorable and we filed a public interest action against the municipal authorities before the Mezam High court.

In the matte, FEDEV is praying the court to restrain the defendant from further dumping waste in the area, to order defendants to create new dump sites consonant with required standards and to provide regular environmental information to the general public about their waste management activities with thin their respective municipalities. The plaintiffs were represented by a team of nine public interest environmental lawyers headed by Barrister Nchunu Justice Sama, while the defense had four lawyers. During the haring the defense raised an objection against the jurisdiction of the court which was argued by both sides lengthily.

In his reasoned ruling delivered on the 23/03/09, the green Judge held that the court had the inherent jurisdiction to handle the matter. He analysed national and international laws and held that his court had Jurisdiction to entertain the matter. The Court held inter-alia that: “The question which this court is called upon to determine and the relief sought by the Plaintiff, seem to suggest that by dumping waste on the surface land at Atuanki, mile 6 Mankon, and the pollution of Mezam River are infringement of Fundamental rights of citizens. Without deciding on the merits or demerits of the case, I agree with Learned Counsel for the Plaintiff that the protection of fundamental human rights is the exclusive preserve of ordinary law courts. I also agree with them that any act of degradation, of environment by whosoever is an infringement of the rights of citizens to a healthy environment. …… From the forgoing I hold that this court has the competence to hear and determine the questions posed in the plaintiff’s origination summons and to grant the reliefs sought”