Youth warn MP, DCE

The move by the District Chief Executive (DCE) of North Tongu District Assembly, Madam Delpha Fafa Agbayi, and Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, who also doubles as a deputy Education Minister, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, to build a new market at Fordzoku, a fishing community in the district, has been met with opposition.

This followed the persistent resistance of some angry residents, particularly the youth in Juapong and its adjoining communities in the district, who have issued a strong warning to Madam Agbayi and Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa to rescind their decision, or else face their wrath.

The warning was as a result of a meeting held by residents of Juapong and its adjoining communities in the district over the two government official's move to build a new state-of-the-art market facility at Fordzoku, instead of extending and refurbishing the existing market at Juapong which building structure is fast deteriorating.

And against this background, the youth have threatened to use all means possible to stop Madam Agbayi and Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa from going ahead to build the market, arguing that constructing a new market at Fordzoku, which is about eight kilometres from Juapong township, was a "complete waste of state funds and resources."

The youth in an angry tone told Today that their checks revealed that building a new market at Fordzoku which has a population of about 600 would definitely 'collapse' the existing market at Juapong.

According to the youth, who communicated their anger in an interview with Today via telephone, they were ready for Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa and Madam Agbayi if they made the “mistake” of building a new market at Fordzoku.

The residents complained bitterly that since Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa and Madam Agbayi assumed office, the two have arrogated executive powers to themselves, denying people of Juapong a lot of government opportunities.

The residents did not hide their frustration when they cited Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa's purported role he played in siting the district capital of North Tongu District Assembly in Battor-Aveyime instead of their preferred location at Juapong.

When contacted by Today, the North Tongu Constituency Deputy Women’s Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC,) Ms. Dora Kportor, who is also a resident of Fordzoku, declined to comment on the issue.

But, when Today quizzed her further, she confirmed the move by the MP and DCE to construct a new market at Fordzoku at the detriment of Juapong market.

According to her, the land which the MP and DCE have used huge sums of state money to prepare for the starting of the project has become a "white elephant," saying the site of the project has now become a haven for reptiles.

She raised a lot of questionable issues about the plans of the MP and Assembly to site the market at Fordzoku, stressing that: “I do not think that building a market at Fordzoku would function properly because it is Juapong market that we buy all our foodstuff and items from."

Ms. Kportor lashed out at the MP, saying "even I do not want to hear the name of Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa because we know that he cannot build a market at Fordzoku.

The move by the MP, she stressed, “is just a face-serving exercise to claim to the people in the district that he cares about the people of Fordzoku."

And that notwithstanding, some opinion leaders in Juapong and its surrounding towns who spoke to Today on condition of anonymity disagreed with the MP and DCE to build a new market at Fordzoku, arguing out that Fordzoku was not a strategic area to build a market.

"Though we are not against any market infrastructure project in Fordzoku township, as concerned citizens of North Tongu District Assembly in the Volta region we would like to state on record that the people in the community would not patronise the market in Fordzoku. It is going to be a complete waste of resources," the opinion leaders stressed.

The opinion leaders, who were speaking on behalf of residents in the said aggrieved areas, therefore advised Hon. Okudzeto-Ablakwa and Madam Agbayi against going contrary to their warning.

“We took the bold decision recently to stop the building of a new market at Fordzoku because building a market there would be of no value to the people in this community but rather a complete waste of government resources. And we would not rescind our stance on the matter," the obviously peeved opinion leaders declared.

Continuing, they said, "Our aim is just to stop the MP and DCE from putting up a market facility at Fordzoku," saying the planned market would not function effectively to achieve its target for the Assembly.

Responding to the story, Madam Agbayi flatly denied the assertions of the people in Juapong to the effect that she and the MP intend to collapse the market at Juapong because of their plans to build a new one at Fordzoku.

According to Madam Agbayi, who spoke through her spokesperson, Mr. Edwin Arthur, who is the Managing Editor of The True Independent newspaper, she and Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa never have any intention to collapse the market in Juapong, saying that allegation was a calculated attempt to sabotage their efforts of improving social and infrastructural development in the district.

"As I am talking to you today [Wednesday, March 3, 2015] our revenue collectors are in Juapong market collecting levies of market tolls and other tolls...so how could we collapse this market in Juapong which is one of the sources of revenue generation for the North Tongu District Assembly," Madam Agbayi said this through Mr. Arthur.

She explained that the plan of the MP and Assembly to build a market at Fordzoku was aimed at improving market centres in areas including Fordzoku, Akuse and their surrounding towns and villages which people always travel far away from their designations to sell and buy at various market centres within and outside the district.

According to her, the three traditional areas in the district have contacted the Assembly and requested for the market centres at their traditional areas, and that through the efforts of Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa, he was able to consult the Assembly to build a market at Fordzoku.

He noted that since the project was part of Assembly's market infrastructure project, the Assembly supported the MP to conduct a feasibility study and came to the conclusion that the Fordzoku township was also a strategic area for the building of a market facility.

And mincing no words, Madam Agbayi stated: "So it does not mean that we are building a new market at Fordzoku to collapse the one at Juapong...we took such a decision in consultation with chiefs, opinion leaders and key stakeholders in the district before we started the project at Fordzoku," she explained.

The DCE who was passionate about bringing development to Juapong therefore called on the people of the area to be calm and rally behind the Assembly and the MP to build the market in Fordzoku.

When the paper reached Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa, he refuted the allegation, saying that "it is the work of his political opponents of yet another in a string of outrageous lies that they continue to churn out against him.

According to him, during this year's North Tongu District Farmers Day celebration held in Fordzoku, the Paramount Chief of Fordzoku Traditional Area made the request that his people needed a market centre to help prevent them from traveling far away to various market centres.

"So as l care for the needs of the people at Fordzoku, I decided to build the market facility in the area. So looking at the location of Fordzoku as well as the location of the market, it would not be in competition with the existing market at Juapong as the people of Juapong claim," Mr. Okudzeto-Ablakwa told Today via telephone on Sunday, March 8, 2015.

The MP said his focus was aimed at bringing social and infrastructure development to all communities within the constituency, and promised to devise administrative and technical measures to ensure that all the various traditional areas in the district have ultra-modern market complex.