Kwasi Bonzoh, Ellembelle DCE
Farmers in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region, whose portions of farms will be destroyed to pave way for the construction of deplorable roads leading to their farms, have indicated that they will not demand any compensation.
They have therefore praised the District Chief Executive (DCE), Kwasi Bonzoh, for prioritising and initiating the construction of deplorable roads leading to farms, particularly the ones in the northern parts of the district.
According to the farmers, the move to construct their poor roads would help reduce the losses associated with delays in transporting their produce.
“It would also facilitate the efficiency of cocoa evacuation in the cocoa-producing areas as well as the movement of people and food crops in those areas”, the farmers indicated.
This came to light when journalists interacted with farmers in the district at the 34th Ellembelle District Farmers’ Day held at Asomase in the northern part of the district.
On his part, the DCE mentioned, for instance, that the roads at Nkroful to Menzezor and Adubrem-Akropong-Ayawora, where most of the farmers are located, were in poor condition.
He revealed that the government had taken lots of initiatives to construct about 60 kilometres (km) of roads in the area from the latter part of this year to next year.
He disclosed that Kinspok Construction alone would be constructing 40km, while the rest would be done by another contractor known as Xara Developers Limited.
He mentioned some of the other roads to be constructed as Nyamebekyere-Sentaso, which is about 20km; Gravel Yard, Basake No.2, Asomase, which is also about 20km.
He assured the farmers of the commitment of government to support them in many ways to ensure that they continue to contribute to the general economy of the country.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, also bemoaned the bad nature of the cocoa roads in the area and added that the situation was worsening the plight of farming communities.
He stressed the need for government to work towards increasing producer price of cocoa in order to bring relief to the farmers.
Armah Kofi Buah therefore prevailed upon government to fix the roads so that cocoa beans could be transported on time to avoid post harvest losses.
He pointed out that he was working hard to construct CHPS compounds, educational centres and new roads to link communities.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Ellembelle