The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, is expected to commission two astro turfs in the Eastern Regional capital of Koforidua.
The Vice President, who will be on a tour of the region on July 26, will also cut the sod for the construction of a third astro turf at Koforidua Zongo. He will also inspect the progress of work on the Nyamekrom Polyclinic and commission a modern police post at the Koforidua Technical University.
The projects, which are located at Koforidua Betom, Nyamekrom, Adweso, and Sarkodie, are at various stages of completion. They are part of the New Koforidua Project, which is being implemented by the Member of Parliament for New Juaben South, Michael Kofi Okyere Baafi.
In an interview with Citi News, after inspecting the progress of work at various project locations, the MP said the projects will bring relief to residents of Koforidua.
“We cannot say that we have done everything, but at least we have made some efforts to make sure that certain things that can be done to change the face of the municipality are done. We have been able to do two astro turfs. These astro turfs will encourage sports and recreation in the municipality. They are located in schools, so we want a lot of people to take advantage of these facilities so that we can unearth their talents.
“They can be good players tomorrow and also enhance the visibility and image of our municipality. So far, we have done two astro turfs, and we have another one coming up in Zongo, which will make it three. By the end of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s tenure, we are sure that we will have done a phenomenal job. This has never happened in the history of the municipality. People will see the kind of things we have done, except those who do not appreciate things. People know that we are working and doing a lot of things. A lot of talents will be unearthed when we are done with this project.”
Michael Kofi Okyere Baafi also indicated that the government has built a police station to protect the people in the area.
“There is no police station on this stretch, and there is a tertiary institution here that serves the community. We are talking about a student population of almost 10,000, plus a population of about 2,000 or 5,000. We cannot underestimate these numbers. We have to make sure that we protect them from any external forces and anything that can hinder the progress of this place. We decided to undertake this project. It is a modern police station. We even created a new washroom and a bathroom in the cells for those who will be put in the cells for some time. There have been a lot of things we have done over the period, and this is one of them. We hope that this is going to benefit this community very well.”
The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industries also expressed concern about the state of security in his municipality. He said that his office is collaborating with the police command to investigate why street lights often go off weeks after they are installed or replaced.
“I am worried about the problem with the lights. The same lights that are given to us by the Ministry of Energy are also given to people in Sunyani. When you go to Sunyani, the lights are always on. But in Koforidua, they will bring the lights, and two or three weeks later, they will go off. We don’t know the reason, so now we want to investigate to find out the cause so that we can solve it once and for all. And when we solve it once and for all, the people will benefit. When you are passing and there are a lot of lights, no criminal can undertake a business in the environment. And because of the existence of the police station here, we are building seven police stations. We hope that this will solve the problem for us. We are starting with three police stations.”
Meanwhile, the Council Chairman of the Koforidua Technical University, Professor Samuel Apori, acknowledged the importance of the police post to the university community. He said that the police post will improve security on campus and reduce criminal activities.
“We wish to thank the Member of Parliament for the area and Deputy Minister of Trade and Industries for providing us with a modern police post. It will provide security for our students, staff, and other stakeholders. With this, when there is trouble, they will know where to go.”
