Assembly Member Decries Plight of Rural Folk

POVERTY, lack of job and wealth generating activities, unhealthy source of contaminated drinking water are some of the factors that militate against the welfare of dwellers of Obo and in fact many other rural dwellers.

With the beautiful edifice or premises in Obo, many visitors are of the opinion that the people live well and in affluence which is not so with the real dwellers in the town.

These were the words of one of the assemblymen of Obo in the Kwahu South District of the Eastern Region, Mr. Anane Omari Wadie, when he addressed a training workshop in batik and tie and dye for some youth in the town under his sponsorship.

He drew attention to these and other problems or short-comings in the town and also appealed to public spirited citizens and opinion leaders to help solve the problems and to set their priorities right.

Omari-Wadie emphasised on the poor water situation in Obo and Tweneduase which recently caused the death of six people through water borne diseases.

He said in spite of several contacts and communications to the appropriate authorities, the Kotoso Water station, which supplies pipe-borne water to Kwahu communities cannot reach the towns for the past two years.

Another area of concern is education which he said many school buildings in the town need serious attention of rehabilitation and therefore called on the authorities to act quickly.

Apart from the initial training given to the youth in the tye and dye batik production, the assemblyman said since economic development in third world countries depends largely on agricultural production, he is pursuing plans to acquire large stretch of land or a community or joint agricultural venture to produce food, fruits and raw materials for processing for local market and for export.

He said this will also create jobs for the people. He urged the new trainees to put whatever they have learnt to enhance their living standards.

He also appealed to the Ministry of Private Sector Development and the Kwahu South District assembly to assist the trainers to acquire capital and materials for their jobs.