An outcry from the indigenes of Amenfi West District

The Amenfi West District Assembly used to be part of the erstwhile Wassa Amenfi District assembly as existed under the legislative instrument (L.I.) 2012.

The name however was changed to Amenfi West District Assembly with the passing of a new L.I. The district is bounded by Suaman and Aowin district, Amenfi Central and Prestea-Huni Valley, Jomoro and Ellembelle districts in the West, East and South borders respectively.

In terms of governance, the assembly is made up of nineteen (19) elected members with eight (8) being appointed by the government making it a total of twenty-seven (27) in all. As enacted by the law, in line with the 1992 constitution, the assembly has other sub-structures for administrative purposes.

There are the Town council, Area Councils and Unit committee members empaneled with about ninety (90) members. The indigenes of Amenfi West District primarily are into farming and wood processing. Due to this, there are about two prominent factories located within the district.

There is the Cocoa producing company and Samatex Timber and Plywood Company. A look at the quantities of cocoa produced in the district yearly in Table 1, gives all and sundry a fair view of our capacity and prospects as a district.

“A Thorn in our flesh” having such promising youth with the district with the available opportunities that these factories stand to offer, who would have thought, we would be bedeviled with extreme challenges that overshadow such promise.

Social amenities which entail good roads, portable and safe-drinking water, and functional electricity, effectual and workable healthcare have become more of a luxury being sought after rather than basic essentials to be enjoyed by our people.

Subsequently, the challenge posed by being deprived of these basic social amenities has been discussed. Bad roads, unfortunately, this challenge seems to resonate with quite a number of districts but will stick to our own and voice out our concerns.

Generally, what are districts roads? District roads encapsulate highways, streets, roads, intersection improvements, crossings, bridges, lighting and sidewalks. Thankfully, we appreciate the opportunities that are resident within the district which complements our prime profession of farming and timber processing.

Nevertheless, the nature of what we do demands that we link up with neighboring districts or even remote ones due to trading activities. This, therefore, necessitates the presence of adequately enhanced roads with appropriate linkages. We may not necessarily expecting all our roads to be tarred but it should be mutable for heavy-duty vehicles that transport cocoa and timber to various destinations within and outside the district.

However, this is far from reality. The roads are virtually ‘begging’ for mercy when pedestrians walk on them so you can imagine what happens when trucks and other heavy vehicles attempt to pass on them.

In order to give credence to this assertion and not to be accused of exaggeration, shots of our roads have been put up for all to see. Unfortunately, the spate of galamsey has progressed in the district unabated and therefore has brought so many woes to the local dwells in the district.

The condition of our water bodies is a true reflection of the handiwork of galamsey in the area. “We need prompt attention!! Anyone!!Someone!! Kindly hear this outcry and come to our aid”, When we take a look at the nature of water we ought to drink, it is demeaning and the thoughts of harming yourself by consuming it push us to seek alternatives which may be quite costly and unaffordable by those living within the district.

Consistent consumption of this could lead to all forms of sicknesses thereby creating a community of unhealthy folks which would affect productivity. Not only that, but the community cannot afford to have a lot of people being sick as there is only one hospital available within the community. This leads us to our next critical issue.

There is one major hospital owned by the Samatex Timber processing firm within the district. There is no adequately equipped community hospital to serve the indigenes.

This forms the basis for our assertion that the community cannot afford any form of an outbreak of sickness which may put pressure on the existing functioning hospital.

Non-functional Electricity Industrialization has been deemed as the way to go for Ghana in recent years. In order to ensure this, an uninterrupted power supply is key. Though power supply is available within the district, the fluctuation or instability of the flow, unfortunately, affects small-scale businesses and even factories within the districts tremendously as work scheduling gets affected and projected outputs may not be eventually realized. “A plea” We are entreating the government to kindly consider our plight and come to our aid with some level of assistance pertaining to issues itemized. Even if not all, we welcome any measures to resolve any of the issues at hand. Then we call out to various Non-governmental Agencies that may lay hold of this plea, to kindly factor it into the communities they have planned to assist with any form of social amenities. The general public, religious bodies and philanthropists, we lay our plea before you to give us a hearing whenever considerations are being made to do any form of good to any community.