File photo: President John Mahama shakes hands with a chief
Chiefs and people of Abenawia in the Akuapem North District in the Eastern region, have expressed disquiet about government’s neglect in providing basic social and infrastructure amenities in their communities to reflect its Better Ghana agenda mantra.
According to them, several communities in most of their areas have not seen any significant improvement as far as living conditions of their people are concerned.
Although, they admitted community development was a shared responsibility, they stressed that it was governments’ primary duty to initiate human-centred projects to improve the lives of the people in the community.
In an interview with Today, Chief of Abenawia, Togbui Abgasa Bgansto I, lamented that they cannot understand why government failed to include them in its developmental programmes.
He complained bitterly with regard to the area being deprived of most developmental projects undertaken by the government for decades now, stressing that the practice does not augur well.
“It is very surprising to see a community which has over 600 people lacking numerous social amenities like health facilities, roads, schools, potable water and electricity.”
“…we have only one school which is up to only primary six; water and electricity projects have been abandoned; our pregnant women are being taken to the hospital by motorbikes, and; to top it all our roads are so tattered and bad that most of the cars are unable to ply the roads here,” the chief complained.
He also lamented how they were really suffering, adding that “if nothing is done by government to overturn the situation, then what it means is that, their people will continue to live in such dilemma.”
In his view the absence of the above facilities was making life uncomfortable for residents in Abenawia.
In this regard, the chief appealed to government to assist them with the said social amenities.
“We’ll be very happy if government heeds our plea and promptly attend to our aid. We are always lacking in terms of development which is worrying.
“…the people of Abenawia need assurance from government that the town is in grave need of positive change for our businesses to flourish,” he asserted.
Togbui Bgansto used the opportunity to express gratitude to As I Grow, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), for donating items worth GHC6,000 to its residence and further tasked more private individuals as well as other organisations to support them.
