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The chairman of the Parent Teacher Association, (PTA) of Old Ankasa Conservation area in the Jomoro municipality, Mr.Charles Kyeremah has complained about the absence of a functioning telecommunication network, making it difficult for workers such as teachers to accept postings to the area and its surrounding communities.
He therefore made the appeal to government and telecommunication companies, to as a matter of urgency, extend their services to the area to pave way for development and improve upon the social and economic well-being of the people. Mr.Kyeremah, who disclosed this to the GNA during a visit to the area, lamented residents in the area had to climb trees and hills before getting access to networks to be able to make calls and access information on the internet.
He told the GNA that the problems bedeviling the town and its environs were hydra-headed as they lack toilet facilities, a situation which has compelled them to openly defecate in their natural surroundings.
He appealed to government to construct the road from Sowodadzem junction to Ankasa forest, through Amokwawsuazo, which was in a deplorable state, and impacting negatively on the local economy, as farmers and traders were left stranded and food crops left to rot on the farms.
He said the deplorable nature of the road, coupled with the absence of a health care center in the town, compelled patients from Old Ankasa to walk so many kilometers to Sowodadzem before accessing health care.
The situation has affected sick people and pregnant women, most of whom are transported by motorcycles before they board a vehicle at Elubo junction. Mr.Kyeremah also said the lack of potable water was affecting life in the community.
According to him, successive governments had paid lip services to the socio-economic development of the Ankasa Virgin forest, which had affected tourism in the area, noting that, the situation was a drain on national revenue.
The Ankasa Conservation Area is in South-Western Ghana, about 365 kilometers west of Accra near the border with La Côte d’Ivoire.
The park is approximately 500 square kilometers, and consists largely of tropical evergreen rain forest.
The surrounding Communities of Old Ankasa are; Amokwawsuazo, Fire, Frenchman, Paradise, Odo Y3f3 and Sowodadzem.
The communities are endowed with food and cash crops such as cocoa, coconut, rubber, plantain, cassava and yam, among others, which has the potential to fast track development, but the lack of communication network, coupled with bad roads among others, are the disincentives to development partners.
