Francis Asaare Akolbila, an assemblyman representing the Yikene Electoral Area in the Upper East Region, is concerned about the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly’s apparent lack of concern for the condition of the nearby public cemetery. About ten years after the original carers passed away or retired, it is claimed that the Assembly neglected to hire new carers for the facility.
Mr. Akolbila, speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show, explained that the absence of caretakers could allow the perpetration of nefarious activities.
“The Bolga Assembly has not been fair to us with regard to the cemetery. People can come there at any time and do what they want. When they are digging, whether they are up to the right depth or not, they dig and bury. You can imagine the COVID-19 era. When people died of COVID, they were brought to my community to be buried. Who supervises the burials? The assembly should get people stationed there to be able to monitor the activities.”
Apart from the locals who offer their services to help dig graves, Mr. Akolbila stated that there are no officials in charge of overseeing operations at the cemetery.
The assemblyman argues that the fact that the cemetery’s boundaries are still unclear makes the situation even worse.
“The land was given to the assembly somewhere in 1962, when we were not born. The land demarcation for the cemetery is not known. That is what we are even battling at the assembly now,” Mr. Akolbila said.
According to the assemblyman, there are also serious health concerns.
“The chief’s palace is directly behind the cemetery, and there are boreholes there. People are using this water from the boreholes,” he said.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
