MP calls for assistance for Elubo

Accra, May 18, GNA - The NDC Member of Parliament for Jomoro, Mr Lee Ocran on Wednesday made an urgent appeal to government to take steps to address the environmental degradation, haphazard development and spiralling crime wave affecting the Elubo Township, a border town in the Western Region.

"In the year, 2000, the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology realising that the problems of Elubo were beyond the capacity of the District Assembly engaged a consultant to come up with a new planning scheme for the town. My information is that the project had been completed and handed over. It is up to the Central Government to act on it," the MP said in a statement in Parliament enumerating the growing problems of Elubo.


He said the town was overcrowded, with poor sanitation facilities coupled with the daily influx of all manner of people, leading to problems of crime.


Mr Ocran said there was very little presence of law enforcement agencies in the town and a Police station, the construction of which started over 10 years ago was still about 80 per cent complete with part of the premises now taken over by squatters.


Capt. Nkrabeah Effah Dartey, NPP-Berekum, in his contributions, said the sights that greeted a person upon entering Elubo was that of human beings, jostling for space with bicycles and animal on the roads. He described the problem in Elubo as a local one and urged the business people in the area to assist the District Assembly through the payment of tolls to help address the situation.

Albert Obbin, the NPP-Prestea-Huni Valley, said there was the need for the Town and Country Planning Department to be resourced to help address the poor planning within the communities. He urged the Environmental Protection Agency not to concentrate only on industrial pollution but also on environmental development and degradation in growing urban areas.


Mr E.T. Mensah, NDC Ningo-Prampam and Andrew Mensah, NPP-Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, urged the district assemblies to prioritise their programmes by tackling problems associated with the rapid growth in urban areas.


Mr Kwabena Okerchiri, NPP-Nkawkaw, noted that it was necessary for district assemblies to demarcate roads and other facilities clearly to discourage the indiscriminate sale of lands, which invariably leads to uncontrolled development. 18 May 05