They also lamented over the poor state of infrastructure such as markets, health, and educational facilities, among others, in the districts.

These came to light at a stakeholders’ forum organised by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD)-Ghana, a civil society organisation, to discuss development challenges in the two districts at Sefwi Essam and Sefwi Adabokrom in the Western Region.

The forum was attended by all stakeholders in the development of the area, including District Chief Executives (DCEs) and Members of Parliament (MPs) for the two districts, Dr Augustine Tawiah MP for Bia West and Mr Richard Acheampong, MP for Bia East.

The Chief of Sefwi Eluokrom, Nana Ahwoi II, called on the government to re-award the contract on the construction of the road, which passes through the Sefwi Asempanaye forest, which was being undertaken by the Mid-West Construction firm but had been terminated.

Nana Ahwoi said the rehabilitation of the road would facilitate haulage of cocoa beans, timber, food stuffs and other economic activities in the area.

The Senior Programmes Officer for CDD-Ghana, Nana Aborampah Mensah, explained that the forum was aimed at bridging the communication gap among stakeholders. It was also to engender discussions around development challenges in the districts with the aim of designing appropriate intervention mechanisms to deal with those challenges.