Tuesday, February 23, 2010

ELLEMBELLE TAKES STEPS TO CHECK FLOODING (PAGE 20, JAN 12, 2010)

THE Ellembelle District is one of the worst affected districts in the Western Region so far as flooding is concerned. In view of this, it has adopted proactive measures to ensure that the people do not suffer undue hardship during the next rainy season.
The District Chief Executive, Mr Daniel K. Eshun, and his team have started a tour of the 13 communities within the district to educate the people and seek their opinions on the way forward before the rains set in.
The assembly is also in the process of securing a grader to improve the roads that were affected in the last floods and also provide drains for the anticipated heavy flood waters and the run-off.
Mr Eshun said last year’s rains traumatised the people, halted economic activities for months and destroyed property and farm produce worth thousands of Ghana Cedis.
“It is just right that before the Government advertises for bids, the assembly has decided to start work on some of the badly affected areas,” the DCE.
He said due to the nature of the roads, cocoa farmers at Aiyinase North had to go through a lot of difficulty to get their produce to the buying centres.
Given the current state of the roads, he said, the people of Aiyinase had to travel through Tarkwa and Asankragwa for about eight hours to get to the district capital.
This, he said, did not augur well for the development of the district and must be reversed through self-help and governmental support.
Mr Eshun said the Aiyinase-Nyamebekyere-Asomase roads were very important for people in those areas and that “when constructed, it could take the inhabitants less than two hours to get to Aiyinase North. It would also facilitate the carting of produce to the buying centres in the district to enable the district to earn revenue”.
At New Adiembra, the people said their main concern was the road and appealed to the government, through the assembly, to solve their problem. They described the current situation as sad, since they had been cut off from the rest of the country.
The bad nature of the road, according the people, also prevented agricultural extension officers from visiting and educating them on modern farming practices.
The three-day tour also took the DCE and his team, made up of the district engineer, town and country planning, agricultural and education officers and some members of the assembly, to New Adiembra, Ananekrom, Dadwen, Kroboline, Asomase, Bonsukrom and Basake.
Other places visited include Kwasikrom, Adjeikrom, Santaso, Mondumgbane, Aidoo Suazo and Ewerekosuazo.

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