Story: George Ernest Asare, Kumasi
In terms of population density, the Race Course area of Bantama is one of the highest in the Kumasi Metropolis.
In the Kumasi Metropolis, the Race Course competes favourably with suburbs like Tafo, Moshie Zongo, Atonsu-Agogo and Anloga, where population is quite dense.
The Race Course was not meant to be a residential area because it was principally developed to promote horse racing in Kumasi and enhance sports development among the youth.
However, the demise of the sport in the area over the years created a vacuum, and people with no permanent residence in the metropolis took advantage of the situation and started putting up wooden structures for use as accommodation.
At the moment, many people who have been attracted to the Kumasi Metropolis for various reasons, especially those who want to break new grounds as part of their adventure, seem to have special interest at the Race Course, and so venture there in their numbers each passing day to swell up the population, making the place congested.
Sanitation is not the best at the Race Course area because unlike other suburbs in the metropolis where the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has provided public toilets and refuse dumps at vantage points to improve sanitation and prevent residents from dumping solid and liquid waste indiscriminately, the KMA is yet to provide any of such facilities there.
The haphazard construction of wooden structures at the Race Course and indiscriminate disposal of solid and liquid waste seem to have affected the drainage there, and this has made it difficult for streams to flow unimpeded.
It is, therefore, not surprising to find stagnant water, which serves as breeding grounds for mosquitoes, as well as choked gutters and mountains of refuse spread across the Race Course area and creating health problems for residents of the area, Bantama and its environs.
In case of any epidemic in the Kumasi Metropolis in the near future, the Race Course area of Bantama, as well as its immediate environs such as Mbrom, Suame, South and North Suntreso, Abrepo Junction and Adum, could be severely affected.
The Bantama Race Course has also assumed a notoriety for being a centre for the peddling of illicit drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and heroin.
The area now competes favourably with suburbs such as Dichemso, Krofrom, Allah Bar and Asawase in terms of drug trafficking and this is giving the Police Narcotics Unit sleepless nights.
Occasionally, the police conduct swoops at dawn to apprehend and prosecute some of the peddlers and dealers in hard drugs, including females, but this has not affected the trade in anyway.
With regard to such criminal activities as mobile phone snatching, rape, defilement and pick-pocketing, as well as armed robbery, the Race Course could aptly be described as the emerging force in the Kumasi Metropolis.
Previously, Dichemso, Krofrom, Sepe Buokrom, Asawase, Aboabo, Allah Bar and Akorem, all in the Kumasi Metropolis, were considered as “no go areas” , especially late in the night. Anyone who ventured into those areas at odd hours was likely to be attacked and robbed with guns and knives.
Women who found themselves in the midst of such social deviants at odd hours were likely to be raped and their valuable items and cash taken away from them.
A large number of criminals, including car snatchers and highway robbers, arrested by the police over the years were traced to some of these suburbs.
Of late, the Race Course is also getting its fair share of armed robberies and other violent criminal activities in Kumasi since police investigations of armed robberies sometimes implicate some of the residents there.
One particular case which readily comes to mind is that of Alfred Zieme, the armed robber who allegedly robbed his victims in broad daylight, using two AK 47 assault rifles.
His penchant for attacking victims in broad daylight created panic among the business community and the general public in the metropolis last year, and it was the collaboration between the public and the police which finally led to his arrest.
Since the Race Course area is becoming notorious for all aspects of criminal activities, it would be worthwhile for the police to acquire Zieme’s supermarket and turn it into a police station where they would station some of their men to provide a 24-hour security in the area.
Establishing a police post at the Race Course would be a giant step in the battle against criminal activities in the metropolis.
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