Only five out of the 157 communities in the Sekyere Afram Plains District in the Ashanti Region are connected to the national electricity grid, while two more are wired for connection.
“Apart from Drobonso , the District capital, Sampso, Awenofi, and two other towns, no other community has electricity and you can imagine the rippling effects of this situation on the socio-economic life of the people in the district,” Sekyere Afram Plains District Chief Executive (DCE) Hamidu Suleman said.
Speaking in an interview on M’abato evening political show on Akoma FM 87.9MHz in Kumasi with JB and William Evans -Nkum, the DCE said although the Assembly managed to procure some high tension poles, that was not enough, as that could only suffice for power extension in the Drobonso township and its surrounding communities.
The Sekyere Afram Plains District, which was carved out from the Sekyere Kumawu District, is one of the 46 districts created in 2012 with absolutely no physical infrastructure to function appropriately.
DCE Suleman said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had promised to connect more communities in the area to the national grid as part of the rural electrification programme.
He said more communities would still be without electricity granted that the two wired communities and those promised by the President were carried out.
He said much as the District Assembly was working around the clock to scale up the connection of electricity, he would also continue to appeal to citizens of the area living in different parts of the country and philanthropists to assist the district to blossom.
With a population of 43,000, Sekyere Afram Plains’ residents have farming, trading and other activities as their occupation.
The DCE said although the government managed to construct the road linking Drobonso to Kumawu, it was handicapped in the construction of bridges and culverts in other communities and appealed to the Feeder Roads Department of the Ministry of Roads and Highways to come to its support.
He said the construction of bridges and culverts on some roads in the area would facilitate the movement of passengers and foodstuff to marketing centres since it would connect over 60 communities.
In the interim, therefore, Mr Suleman said the Assembly had applied to the Ministry of Energy to support it with solar lamps, especially to communities with health facilities to save lives.
“You all agree with me that the provision of electricity can open up our communities here commercially and enable them to engage in jobs like welding, fabrication and modeling rather than moving to urban centres for non-existent jobs,” he said.
He pointed out that 14 out of the 157 communities in the District have access to mobile phone network.
By Benjamin Aidoo|Akoma FM|3news.com|Ghana