The rank and file of the Agona Youth Confederacy (AYC), would like to express in no uncertain terms its disappointment at the manner and way the Government is treating the people of Agona West Municipality in respect of the natural disaster which occured recently.
The President, John Evans Atta Mills on visiting the flood scene, promised to ensure that the damage caused by the flood is repaired as soon as possible.
The President and the Central Regional Minister, Ama Benyiwa Doe, promised to rehabilitate the bridges to the township, but since then, we have not heard of, or seen, any work being done there. The inaccessibility of the bridges is making life very unbearable, inconvenient, and further reducing productivity in the affected areas.
These are the two main bridges that lead to the Agona Swedru Township. The only road which is manageable when coming from Accra is the Bawjiase Road; and the nature of the road could not be described as ‘’pothole’’, but ‘’manhole.’’
The Government upon hearing about our intended press statement decided to do some shoddy patches which are likely to worsen the condition of the bridges.
We recall sometime this year, the President raised an amount of 3 billion cedis to install security device at the residence of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Alex Segbefia. Further, the same Presidency used the Tax Payers' money to renovate the house of the NDC Vice Chairperson’s mother.
Now it is clear that President Mills’ ‘’I care For You’’ and ‘’Father For All’’ slogans are mere rhetoric. He is only concerned about the welfare of his cronies and the executive members of his party.
Agona Swedru is the briskest commercial town in the Central Region; we have exceeded the revenue generation target on quite a number of occasions.
What is happening appears to confirm the widely held belief that the Government’s refusal to rehabilitate the bridges is due to the fact that the town is seen as an NPP stronghold.
What would have been the Government’s attitude if the affected area had been an NDC stronghold?
The Municipal Chief Executive’s (MCE) Residence and Office were not affected by the natural disaster, and this we believe happens to be one of the reasons for his lackadaisical attitude towards pushing and championing the cause of the people of the Agona Municipality.
Rehabilitation of these bridges would not benefit and facilitate the work of the people of Agona Municipality only, but also the surrounding towns and villages. The crime situation in the Municipality is likely to escalate, because the situation is like a ‘’Chinese wall’’: no one knows what is happening at the other side; now the police find it difficult monitoring the activities in the township.
The police are at one side, and the people too are on the other side, due to the collapsed of the bridges which link the police stations to the centre of the town.
We want to reiterate that, we don’t want to be unruly, but when we are pushed to the wall, we would have no option than to launch and embark upon ‘’Operation Yentua Tax’’ demonstration, because one of the principal reasons and benefits from paying of Taxes, is to generate revenue for government to use in developmental projects to benefit the citizenry.
We would not allow the Government to take us for granted; we are therefore demanding our share of the national cake. We believe in dialogue, but when it fails then the street will watch and talk, through a massive demonstration to register our displeasure at the turn of event.
We would like to take this opportunity to extend our greetings and appreciation to those who supported the people of Agona Swedru, and its surrounding villages during this unfortunate natural disaster, which displaced thousands of people in the Municipality.
