Asenemaso residents want refuse evacuated

Asenemaso (Ash), Sept 27, GNA - Residents of Asenemaso near Abuakwa in the Atwima-Nwabiagya District have appealed to the district assembly to collect a heap of refuse that had been left uncollected since 2003.

Mr Samuel Yeboah, a spokesman for the residents, said the refuse dump, which covers an area of about 150 metres square, posed health hazard to the community.

''When it rains, the residents have to endure the stench that emanates from the dump. Some of the garbage and human excreta are washed into the houses that are close to the refuse dump.'' This situation, he said, had forced some of the residents to abandon their houses because they are no longer bear the stench.

When contacted, Mr Ebenezer Tette-Annang, the Atwima-Nwabiagya District Environmental Health Officer, said the assembly recently conducted feasibility studies into how best to collect the refuse and came up with the decision that in view of the sheer volume of the refuse, it would be awarded on contract for speedy evacuation. He said a similar studies had also been done at Sepaase, Abuakwa, Mfensi, Asuofua and Atwima-Koforidua which all faced similar situations. Mr Tetteh-Annang attributed the delay in evacuating the refuse to the difficulty in getting funds for the project and said the assembly would need about 500 million cedis at Asenemaso alone.