Weija MP, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey
Residents of Weija Constituency/Municipality have interacted with their Member of Parliament (MP), Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, at Mallam, a suburb of Accra.
The interaction was made possible by Citi FM, which moved broadcast equipment out of its No 11 Tettey Loop office at Adabraka, Accra, to bring its Breakfast Show to listeners from the taxi rank at Mallam Junction in the Weija Constituency.
The open interaction afforded residents the opportunity to once again put before their MP communal problems still besetting their stay and activities in the constituency, the largest in the entire country.
All those who spoke were in agreement that the major problems in the constituency include unnerving traffic jams at rush-hours but which could persist for several hours in the mornings and evenings, sometimes an entire day; the absence of main drainage systems along major roads and hence flooding; bad roads, and; lack of potable water.
They also mentioned erosion, which some said also contributed to the bad nature of the roads and the consequent higher-than-prescribed fares, and frequent and interminable power cuts. A resident and trader, Gifty Obuor, disclosed that the bad roads made trips bumpy, jostling and uncomfortable.
The professional background of the residents who had the chance to speak ranged from teachers, through bankers, traders, drivers, housewives to students.
Honourable Ayorkor Botchwey acknowledged the problems and explained that these have arisen and persist through no fault of the residents nor stakeholders in the entities of municipal and state officials. She pointed out that apart from being the largest constituency in the entire country – both in terms of geographical area and population, – it is also the fastest-growing, which has coupled poor planning to put pressure on the land.
“The state has not been able to keep up with the pace of residential development here,” she told Citi.
Addressing the issue of the dearth of infrastructural development and utilities problems, Hon. Ayorkor Botchwey explained that in her last two terms she has done so much that are obvious in different communities, but the huge size of the constituency renders makes all that seem a drop in the ocean.
The constituency spreads from Mallam, through McCarthy Hill, Awoshie, Gbawe, Sorobga, Weija township, New Weija, Aplaku, Engleshi Amanfrom, parts of Kasoa, and more.
“To make national administration aware of the major problems we have here, she said, I managed, in my last term, to lobby for Weija to be elevated to the status of municipality. That means it has now become the focal point of national budget for Assembly funding and development of infrastructure,” she said and added, “Now the only issue is for you to be patient with the time it takes projects to be planned before implementation, which is what you are interested in.”
She mentioned other problems. Almost all public lands here have been sold out and it is difficult to build more schools in our communities, she lamented, and what we have had to do now is build more structures in already existing schools, but that is only crowding the schools in few areas in a large constituency.
She added that, in spite of being the largest constituency, Weija receives the same amount in the MP’s Common Fund as the smallest constituency in the country, an issue she has already taken up with authorities.
The MP enumerated some solutions she has already worked closely with other stakeholders in municipality and constituency development to deliver to the people.
She pointed out that no one prospected the fast pace of development of the constituency and so the Ghana Water Company laid small supply pipes, but she has managed to lobby the company and they are now substituting and laying bigger supply pipes to bring potable water to the teeming population in the constituency.
She has also lobbied the Department of Urban Roads to tar sections of the main roads linking the communities, to bring in electricity to some communities hitherto unconnected and for Ghana Police Service to put a station at Gbawe, and brought new classroom blocks to several schools, while putting libraries in many of them.
She said, she pays the fees of many brilliant but needy students resident in the constituency, and directed to her office along the highway at Mendskrom parents and guardians who have genuine problems of need.
Addressing a specific concern/suggestion raised by commercial drivers for easing traffic around Mallam Junction, Hon. Ayorkor Botchwey proposed to contact, encourage and work closely with Urban Roads to grade and gravel the by-pass behind Barimah filling station.
The Presiding Member (PM) of the Weija Municipality, Nii Abossey, praised the MP for her hard work and persistence in solving the problems in the area. Until I became a PM I did not know the vast extent of problems here, he told Citi FM.
He chided state institutions for planning the constituency by acquiring lands for various projects, but not taking steps to protect these lands, and now most have been sold off by chiefs and land speculators who feel they are stronger than chiefs.
STORY: YIRENKYI LAMPTEY
