A section of residents in the Kumasi metropolis has at a People’s Assembly held at the Prempeh Assembly Hall in Kumasi last Friday, expressed concern about the inadequate health facilities in the Kumasi metropolis. This they claim, is creating massive congestion at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
They have expressed worry at the unsanitary conditions at the Dompoase Land fill site, which is causing severe health hazards among the public.
They also expressed concern about the massive congestion at the Kumasi Central Market and the deplorable conditions there. They also lamented the ineffective drainage system at the market which is not only undermining business transactions but is also the cause of regular flooding of the market.
The people’s assembly which was instituted by President John Agyekum Kufour seven years ago offers a unique opportunity for the ordinary Ghanaian, who would otherwise not have had any opportunity to meet the President and government officials.
The forum was a follow up to the one President Kufour held with a cross section of Ghanaians in Sekondi on January 15, 2008. The Prempeh Assembly Hall forum offered residents in the Kumasi metropolis in particular and Ashanti Region in general, the opportunity to interact with the Ashanti Regional Minister , the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive , departmental heads and service commanders of the various state security agencies, for more than three hours.
Notwithstanding the fact that the forum started two hours late due to the late arrival of the officials, the residents comported themselves throughout the period it lasted, and created a conducive atmosphere that enhanced fruitful interactions.
After the regional minister, Mr Emmanuel A. Owusu Ansah, had opened the forum and
outlined the achievements of the government and its policies, which he said, were impacting positively on the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian, the floor was opened for the public to react by way of questions and comments.
The public’s reactions centred on the inadequate facilities in some public health institutions in the Kumasi metropolis which compelled the medical officers there to refer all cases to the KATH , thus creating massive congestion at the tertiary health facility and undue delays in accessing medical care.
According to them, facilities at the Agogo, Manhyia, Tafo and Sofoline hospitals were woefully inadequate, making it impossible for the residents to access medical care.
They said the population in the Kumasi metropolis and its environs was growing at a faster rate, without a corresponding growth in facilities at health care institutions, and that the delay of the government at expanding the facilities to accommodate patients was undermining health care , and defeating the primary health care policy of the government.
On sanitation, the residents expressed concern about the deplorable conditions at the Dompoase land fill site, where the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly dumped its waste.
They pointed out that since the KMA started dumping refuse at the site over four years ago, it had taken no initiative to improve upon the sanitary conditions there.
This, they said, had created an offensive odour and the invasion of their homes and workplaces, both during the day and night, by houseflies and other insects.
They, therefore, called on the KMA to re-engineer the Dompoase Land fill site to reduce the offensive odour.
They also called on the KMA to collaborate with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to extend electricity to the Oti community, near the Dompoase Land Fill Site, to reduce attacks by armed robbers, who have taken advantage of the absence of electricity to terrorise the residents at night.
Contributors at the forum said the Kumasi Central Market had not seen any expansion since the market was built many years ago.
They said the drainage system at the market was also nothing to be enthused about, and that the massive congestion at the market and the inadequate drainage system impacted negatively on business transactions, especially during rains, and therefore appealed to the metropolitan chief executive to initiate policies and programmes that would ameliorate the plight of those who do business at the market.
Some of the residents also urged the KMA to develop educational infrastructure in some suburbs in the metropolis to enhance effective and efficient academic work.
They said at a time rural communities were being flooded with classroom facilities to boost teaching and learning, some suburbs in Kumasi, especially Atonsu-Agogo, lacked adequate classroom facilities.
This, they said, compelled some pupils at the basic school level to study under trees, and therefore were at the mercy of the weather everyday. They, therefore, urged the KMA to address the problem before it got out of hand.
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