The chiefs and people of Enyan Obontser, a farming community in the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam District of the Central Region, have appealed to the Government and stakeholders in the telecommunications industry to provide them with mobile network services.
The lack of mobile networks and internet services in the rural community is affecting the lives of the people; their work, education and health.
A dedicated tree and a hill have become the reception spots and unless they climb the tree or the hill, the people cannot make or receive calls and messages.
Apart from the risk of falling and the obvious dangers during emergency cases, the situation also leaves no room for privacy.
Nana Kofi Donkor Dua, the Tufohen of Enyan Obontser, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that teachers and nurses rarely accepted postings to Obontser and adjoining communities owing to the network situation.
Most of the teachers lived outside the community and commuted to work every day, he said, adding: ‘There is no teacher living in our
community.’
‘We have enough accommodation for them but because of the network issues, they all stay far away from the community.’
He expressed frustrations about the situation, fearing that it could lead to deaths in emergency situations.
‘You can’t stay in your room and make a call and so when there is an emergency, we are found wanting. When somebody sends you a text message, unless you move to Mankessim, you cannot access it.’
‘We are pleading with government, organisations, individuals, MTN and the service providers to come to our aid.’
Nana Donkor Dua shared with the Ghana News Agency how they were sensitising parents and guardians in the community to allow their children to go to school instead of allowing them to do farm work.
He said because the town was an agrarian community, parents usually preferred taking their children along with them to the farm.
‘But we are talking to them and they are listening. They have come to appreciate the essence of education and now they only take their children
to farm on weekends,’ Nana Duah said.
Some residents who shared their experiences with the GNA indicated the difficulty in accessing mobile money and undertaking other mobile phone-related activities and asked for the government’s intervention.
Source: Ghana News Agency