Residents in Upper Manya Krobo demonstrate over bad roads

About 200 of angry residents in eight communities in the Upper Manya Krobo District of the Eastern Region have embarked on a demonstration to protest bad roads, lack of potable water and other infrastructural development in the district.

They have threatened to boycott the November elections if government does nothing about the situation.

According to the angry residents, political leaders have left the people of Upper Manya Krobo District with abject poverty, poor infrastructure, no potable drinking water and bad roads for a long time.

The demonstrators matched through the Sekesua, Ponponya and Fantem streets bearing placards with the inscriptions “we want lights in our communities, no potable drinking water in upper Manya no vote, no good road in Sekesua no vote, and no SHS no vote.”

An angry resident, Benjamin Kwaku, told Joy News correspondent Haruna Yusif Wumpuni that they can no longer live the way they have been living. He thinks the communities deserve better.

“We want government to listen to the people of Sekesua because we are tax payers and we are part of the country. We need a payback for all the services we have rendered to the state.

“We should be rewarded with good drinking water, good roads, extension of electricity, educational facilities and other humanitarian laurels so that the people can feel at home,” he said.

The only water treatment plant substation located at Ponponya community close to the Volta Lake which pump the water to the treatment plant has not been functioning for the last two years.

Spokesperson of the angry residents, Nyumutei Timothy explained that the people have no potable drinking water and cannot even drink from the Volta Lake which was tapped in their area due to desalination activities in the river.

According to him, government does not appreciate their loyalty and support to the NDC.

The Chief of Ponponya Fantem Community, Binyemi Albert Teye explained that the people in the surrounding communities are suffering due to lack of potable drinking water and farmers cannot bring their produce to the market because of bad roads.

According to him, the people will not vote in the 2016 general elections if something is not done about the situation.

“From now on the action continues, no break until something is done and if nothing is done, as for the votes, they should forget it,” he said.