People of Ofoase-Ayirebi threaten not to vote

The people of the Ofoase Ayirebi constituency in the Akyemmansa District have threatened not to take part in the December polls if the 23- kilometer Ofoase/Ayirebi road is not tarred.

They have therefore appealed to the government to take urgent steps to get the road tarred since they did not understand why Ofoase was the only district capital in the country which had not got its town roads tarred.

Talking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Ofoase to express their concerns, Mr Odeshie Kwasi Nyame, assemblyman for Etwereso and Mr Samuel Adarkwa, who acted as spokespersons for the people, said the district which was carved out of the Birim North District in 2007, was one of the most deprived in the country.

According to them, it lacked so many amenities especially accessibility to the various communities, thus making the movement of people, goods and services very difficult.

They said whenever they discussed the issue with the District Chief Executive he told them “plans were far advanced” for the road to be tarred.

When reached for his reaction, Mr. Tom Budu, the District Chief Executive, confirmed that he had been approached several times by the people including chiefs on the poor roads in the district, especially the Ofoase/Ayirebi road.

He said he had sent a request to the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) about the concerns of his people and the RCC had assured him that all the necessary documentations including drawings had been done and what was left was approval and release of funds for the project to take off.

Mr Budu noted that, if the road was not tarred, the massive development projects undertaken in the district under President Mills’ administration would be relegated to the background.

The projects include the construction of over 28 schools, an administration block that is under construction, setting up of decentralized departments for effective local government administration and the creation of more Community-based Health Planning Service compounds.

Mr. Budu appealed to the people to exercise restraint since he was working hard to get the road tarred.**