Public pressure is mounting for the rehabilitation of the Sunyani Children’s Park, with calls directed at the Bono Regional Minister to prioritise its redevelopment.
Currently, the only children’s park in Sunyani is in a deplorable condition, overrun by waste and reportedly serving as a haven for individuals experiencing mental health issues.
Lawrence Yeboah Gyan, a broadcast journalist based in Sunyani, has launched a campaign on social media, urging authorities to restore the long-neglected facility.
“In the 90s, people used to come here to read and borrow books, but the place has been left to deteriorate, the place has become the abode for persons with mental challenges. I am urging the Regional Minister and the Municipal Chief Executive to ensure the place is redeveloped,” he told Channel One News.
Once a bustling hub for recreation and learning, the Sunyani Children’s Park has deteriorated into a shadow of its former self. The park’s library, once a centre of curiosity and education, now lies abandoned and unused.
The grounds are littered with refuse, and the space has become an informal shelter for vulnerable individuals. Despite repeated calls over the years, tangible steps toward redevelopment have not been taken.
Pupils from various basic schools in Sunyani have shared their dismay over the park’s condition and voiced a desire to see it restored.
Godfred Frimpong, a pupil of Ridge Experimental, said in an interview, “People are now using the place as a refuse dump. I want the authorities to redevelop the place for us.”
“I did not know this place is Children’s Park because of the state of the place. This place needs to be developed.”
Valice Boahene of Police Experimental School, on his part, said, ” The park needs to be redeveloped so that we can get a place to play.”
Parents have also weighed in, expressing both concern and hope for the park’s future.
Osei Laar noted, ” We can not allow this to continue; something urgently needs to be done to redevelop it to serve its intended purpose.”
Mark Abisa express his thoughts on the issue.
” When we were kids, that is where we used to play, however, the current of the park is uncalled for, the authorities need to do something urgently about the place.”
Vincent Antwi Agyei, the Municipal Chief Executive for Sunyani East, has responded by outlining proposed plans for the park’s redevelopment.
“I am considering collaborating with the Sunyani Traditional Council so that we can get a private developer to develop the place, which the law allows.”
He disclosed, ” It is my wish that by the time I leave office as MCE, the park would have received a facelift.”
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