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31.01.2016 Regional News

Presiding Member Bemoans Sand Wining In Gomoa

By Benedict Kweku Nkrumah
Presiding Member Bemoans Sand Wining In Gomoa
31.01.2016 LISTEN

The Presiding Member (PM) for the Gomoa East District Assembly in the Central Region, Hon. Fred Joe Arthur has expressed concern at the rather high level of land degradation in the district as a results of sand miming.

"The Gomoa East District Assembly is greatly concern over the rate at which sand mining by various construction companies operating in the district are degrading Gomoa lands through their operations. These lands are being destroyed without reclaiming them.

This is gradually causing famine in the affected communities and would eventuality spread to almost all the communities in the Gomoa East District. I will like to appeal to nananom and land owners to impress on contractors mining sand on their lands to reclaim them for farming purposes".

Hon. Fred Joe Arthur expressed this concerns when he was addressing the chiefs and people of Gomoa Ojobi in the Gomoa East District at durbar to climax their annual Akwambo festival last Saturday.

According to him, the Assembly do not own any land in the district. Its only duty was to collect revenue from the companies operating in the district. It therefore behooves on chiefs and the land owners to ensure that they reclaim the land to boost farming in the vicinity.

"Food price has become higher because all farm lands are now being used for sand mining depriving the people access to their farming. The cost of living in Gomoa Ojobi and all the communities experiencing these sand mining activities has become extremely expensive.

This has increased Rural-Urban migration where the youth have been forced to travel to urban and cities to look for non-existence jobs. It is also breeding poverty. Farmers who hinder to make huge profit from their farm produce are struggling to make ends meet".

The Presiding Member called on Assembly Members in the affected communities to educate the public on the need for the lands to be reclaimed. He also urged chiefs and land owners to sign proper contracts that would force sand mining companies to reclaim the land.

On festivities in Gomoa the Presiding Member appeal to organizers of the festivals to fine tune their programs to enable political leaders ample time to attend and to share their goals and visions with them adding that the youth should desist from political violence as the nation prepares for November 7th general elections.

In a related development, the Presiding Member had tasked members of the various Unit Committees in the Gomoa East District to boost revenue collection in their Electoral Areas to enhance development.

Hon. Fred Joe Arthur said this when he sworn in Unit Committee members of the Gomoa East District Assembly at Gomoa Afransi. He called on them to rekindle communal labour to reduce environmental related diseases.

Attached is Hon. Fred Joe Arthur

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