Indian hemp smokers take over Tema school - Residents

Users of banned substances notably Indian hemp, have taken over the Republic Road Basic School at Community Four, residents of Republic Road and Horticulture Electoral Areas in Tema Central, have disclosed.

This came to light on Friday during an interaction between constituents of the Tema Central Constituency and their Member of Parliament (MP), Mr. Kofi Brako at the forecourt of the Vera Club, Community Four, Tema.

The meeting which was to afford the MP an opportunity to brief the constituents of developments in Ghana’s parliament gave opportunity for residents of the communities to voice out challenges they faced.

“I will plead with the Police to step up patrol around the school since wee (Indian hemp) smoking goes on with impunity,” a resident pleaded with the authorities with a passionate voice.

He informed of a situation in which residents had to endure the smell from the smoking of the substances which had become a regular feature of the school and the community’s ambiance.

“The children in this community are at risk because these people serve as bad influence on them which is a great concern to us as parents,” the resident whose name could not be disclosed said.

The Assembly man of the Republic Road Electoral Area, Mr. Anthony Sam Anoom, admitted such activities went on in the communities, but observed that his outfit had fought to reduce its occurrence drastically.

He said, “Now they can’t skip the walls as they did previously due to the vigilance of the security man, and we are working hard to root them out completely.”

The Public Relations Officer of the Tema Regional Police Command, ASP Joseph Boakye Darkwah, advised residents of the communities to form watchdog committees to assist the police flush out such miscreants from society.

He asked residents to, “See the police service as your service. Feel free to walk in with such information and we would be more than willing to assist you.”

He assured them of the readiness of the Regional Command to deal swiftly with the issue once it had come to their notice.

Other worries residents pointed out included failure of waste collectors to come for refuse, increase in criminal activities within the communities, and the indiscriminate siting of metal containers across the communities.