Robbers are terrorising residents of Kwadwo-Addaikrom, a farming community in the Asunafo North Municipality of the Ahafo Region.
Mr Abraham Kwabena Seipela, the Assemblyman for the Area, said the robbers targeted and robbed cocoa farmers and purchasing clerks, sometimes at gunpoint.
When the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the cocoa growing community, the residents appealed to the Government to expedite action on the completion of an abandoned police station for improved security in the area.
In an interview with the GNA, Mr Seipela regretted the crime wave in the area, saying criminals had capitalised on the absence of a police station to undertake their criminal activities.
He said another problem confronting the more than 4,500 people was the absence of telecommunication network due to an abandoned telephony project, thereby, making it difficult for the people to interact in the digital space.
In a brief background, Nana Kofi Anane, the Chief of Kwadwo-Addaikrom, told the GNA said the Government comm
enced work on the rural telephony facility and the police station project in 2020.
The rural telephony facility was being undertaken by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC) to connect and bridge the digital gap in the area.
The police station project was executed by the Middle Belt Development Authority (MBDA) under the government’s One million per Constituency policy.
Nana Anane said the chiefs and people of the area released the parcel of land for the project, however work had stalled for almost four years with the contractor nowhere to be found.
He said Kwadwo-Addaikrom had more than 20 adjoining villages and appealed to the Government to facilitate for the MBDA and the GIFEC to resume work and complete the projects for use.
He expressed worry that the lack of telecommunication and the rising crime wave had not only slowed down socio-economic activities but also discouraged rural and community banks from setting up in the area.
However, he expressed confidence that the compl
etion of the telephony facility would bridge the digital divide and connect Kwadwo-Addaikrom and its neighboring communities to the digital world.
The GNA noticed that weeds had taken over the police post project, which had reached the lintel stage and deteriorating.
The rural telephony facility was also left under the mercy of the weather.
Source: Ghana News Agency