Lambussie, (U/W), Dec. 11, GNA – The Concerned Sissala Movement has bemoaned what it described as the deliberate “manipulation and distortion” of the Digital Addressing System, which resulted in 12 out of the 25 Electoral Areas of the Lambussie District being captured under Nandom Municipality.
According to the Group, when the issue was first detected in February 2020, several letters from the District Chief Executive (DCE), Torpulor Youth Association, and the Lambussie Traditional Council through the Regional Minister to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the President, calling for an immediate correction, received no response from them.
“Further follow-ups to the office of the National Digital Property Addressing System (NDPAS) yielded no results after assurances from the Chief Executive Officer to send technical officers to Lambussie to have the issue addressed”, the Group said.
The Concerned Youth Movement said this in a press statement delivered by Mr Sylvester Bayuo, the Convener of the Group at the end of a peaceful protest in the streets of Lambussie to press home their concern of having the manipulated numbering system that resulted in the capturing of close to half of the landmass of the district under the Nandom Municipal Assembly corrected.
“As peaceful as we are, we want to urge the authorities who are responsible for correcting the ‘intentional’ error to do the needful by 31st of December, 2021 otherwise, we will roll our next line of action”, he said.
“All who matter in this regard should know that the Chiefs and people of Lambussie Traditional Area shall not cede one centimetre of their land to Nandom Traditional Area”, he emphasized.
On rumours about the creation of Nandom North District, Mr Bayuo described such an intention as a recipe for conflict should it be pushed through by anyone, citing issues of land litigation between the people of Nimoro and Fielimuo among others.
Touching on the indiscriminate cutting of trees on the Lambussie Forest, which used to be the farmlands of their people and noted that if for any reason the government was no longer interested in the forest, it should be reverted to its original owner and not be diabolically captured under another District.
On roads, he said the Concerned Sissala Movement was appalled that none of the Sissala Districts, namely; Lambussie, Sissala West, Sissala East, and Wa East were connected to the regional capital Wa with a tarred road.
“Not a centimetre of a tarred road is in Lambussie District. All the roads have deteriorated to the extent that they are now death traps to the people. We have lost count of the number of youth who died on the roads here”, he lamented.
Mr Bayuo said the policy that all District capitals should have at least 15 kilometres of tarred road have been ignored by successive governments.
The Convener of the Group, however, lauded President Nana Akufo-Addo for making the district part of the beneficiaries of the Agenda 111 Hospital facilities and expressed the hope that the laudable idea would not remain a nine day wonder.
He noted that even though the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Office had been well furbished, the office was still non-functional due to the inability of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to assign staff to manage it.
“We, therefore, plead with the NHIA to as a matter of urgency post permanent personnel to manage the NHIS office in Lambussie District”, he said.
The Group Convener noted that shortly after the allocation of an ambulance to the District, it got involved in an accident and had since been parked whilst the staff remained redundant, thereby denying seriously ill citizens the opportunity to be transported to the polyclinic or to other neighbouring hospitals.
Mr Bayuo, therefore, urged the National Ambulance Service to as a matter of urgency get the ambulance repaired or replaced.
He appealed to government to convert the Lambussie Community Day Senior High School to a boarding school considering the difficulty students face in getting accommodation, adding that, this would reduce the stress students go through daily to attend classes.
GNA