Residents of Sebrepo and its environs bemoan lack of amenities

 Alhaji E. A. Tetteh, KKDA District Chief Executive(in cap) interacting with some participants of the town hall meeting 

 Some participants of the town hall meeting held by KKDA.

 By:   Benjamin Xornam Glover, TEMA
Residents of Kakasunanka, Michel Camp, Sebrepo, Gbestile, Gulf City Electoral Area and its surrounding areas which constitute the KAMSBERG Area Council in the Kpone-Katamanso District Assembly, have expressed their disappointment of the failure of past and present government to execute key development a project in the area.

They bemoaned the lack of access roads, drains, market, lorry parks, clinics, public schools, street lights in the area stating the lack of such basic infrastructure and amenities posses a serious challenge to the residents.

The residents expressed these sentiments at a Town Hall meeting organized by the Kpone-Katamanso District Assembly, (KKDA). The Town Hall meeting was aimed at educating the community members, chiefs and people on the development agenda of the district. It was also targeted at collating the inputs of the residents in the formulation of the Medium Term Development Plan of the Assembly.

Poor Roads
The Chief of Saki, Nii Tetteh Oglie, contributing to the discussions bemoaned the state of the road linking Kpone Barrier to Michel Camp. He said due to poor supervision, construction of the road which started in 2011 have developed huge potholes adding that the resulting dust generated by vehicles plying the creates a lot of inconvenience for residents.

He appealed to the Assembly to ensure the early tarring of that particular stretch of road and other roads in the community to bring relief and ease the burden on residents.

Nii Oglie also appealed to residents to pay all rates and levies to empower the Assembly to carry out its mandates adding that it was only then that they can hold the assembly accountable when it fails to meets its mandate
Lack of Funds

Responding, the Urban Roads Engineer, Mr Martin Essilfie said the road project have stalled due to lack of funds but was optimistic that work on the stretch and other access roads would received the urgent attention.

Presiding Member’s assurance
The Presiding Member of the KKDA Mr Ellis Elliot Aferi, who chaired the function disclosed that under the leadership of the Member of Parliament for Kpone Katamanso Constituency who doubles as the Regional Minister for Greater Accra Region, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, contract has been awarded for the tarring of the some major roads in the affected communities and work would commence soon.

Medium Term Development Plan

The KKDA Development Planning Officer, Mr Paul Mac Ofori said the Assembly was developing a new Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) to help the assembly properly plan for the socio-economic growth of the area.
He mentioned some key intervention earmarked for the affected communities. These includes the construction and completion of a three-unit classroom block at Nmlitsakpo, the provision of a six-unit two-storey basic school block at Nmlitsakpo, as well as another three-unit classroom block at Saki.
Other projects earmarked for the communities are the reshaping and re-graveling of selected roads, installation of street lights, construction of a market complex at Gbetsile, construction of an Area Council Office, provision of skip containers to address sanitation challenges as well as undertaking street-naming and property addressing exercises.

Development Planning Scheme
The District Works Engineer, Mr Vincent Yeboah said noted that as a result of the absence of a Development Planning Scheme, there is uncontrolled development in most of the communities, which have resulted in houses being haphazardly built.

He also appealed to chiefs and other landlords to make available lands for the construction of social amenities for the communities.

Consultation and Participation
In an address, the District Chief Executive, Alhaji E. A. Tetteh, said the assembly has resolved to hold such fora regularly to give account of all projects and programmes executed of being executed by the Assembly to inform the citizenry of its performance and also receive feedback.
"This will give the community the opportunity to appreciate the collective efforts of the district in meeting their needs and aspirations. It will further offer the platform for all grievances, suggestions and contributions to be raised and appropriate measures taken to address them.” he said.

Value for money
Mr Godwin Nuadeke, a resident and Chairman of Top Estates Landlords and Residents Association lauded the Assembly for the intervention earmarked for the area but advised the Assembly to ensure contractors deliver quality jobs in order to ensure value for money.
He said even if only one project out of the many enumerated is to be done over the four year period, the quality and standard of work should be very high to ensure the people benefited from it.