Residents of Abuakwa in the Atwima-Nwabiagya District of the Ashanti region are expressing fear of a possible cholera outbreak in the area.
They attributed the fear to heaps of rubbish located very close to residential facilities and a health centre in the area.
Authorities have been asked to take immediate action to address their plight.
Luv FM’s Prince Appiah, who visited the community, reported that the stench emanating from one of the dumping sites in the area terrorized residents, indicating, they may easily contract the deadly disease.
Meanwhile, the NPP minority at a news conference Thursday blamed the government’s unwillingness to release the District Assemblies’ Common fund to help manage the spread of cholera in parts of the country.
The outbreak has so far killed some 100 people out of over 12,000 infected cases across the country.
Member of Parliament for Offinso North, Collins Ntim told the media the assemblies lacked the needed resources to stop the spread of the disease because the government is dragging its feet to release the funds.
According to him, the government’s failure to release the funds for the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to carry out their work, has worsened the situation of filth in the country.
“If the necessary logistics had been provided to the traditional actors in the health and local administration, the cholera outbreak could and would have been avoided,” the MP suggested.
Mr. Ntim further mentioned that without the required funds, the assemblies could not collect the heaps of garbage scattered all over the MMDAs in the country.
In a related development, the Local Government Ministry is considering a comprehensive plan to stop the cholera outbreak in parts of the country especially Accra, in the coming years.
According to the Deputy Minister, Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, serious education campaigns with certain measures would be put in place to counter the disease next year and beyond.
“I can assure Ghanaians that next year; we’ll have comprehensive plan i.e. serious education and also try to put in place certain things that we believe will not let us up to such challenges again in the years to come,” he stated.
He was assuring Ghanaians on Joy FM’s Midday news Thursday.
Mr. Agyekum, however, did not mention those measures, which would be geared towards dealing with the deadly disease efficiently and effectively.
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