The Ayawaso West Municipal Assembly has denied claims by John Dumelo that they stopped him from dredging some drains in the community.
John-Dumelo in answering a tweet asking whether he had been asked by the Municipal Assembly to stop dredging the choked gutters in the Constituency where he’s vying for Member of Parliament confirmed that he had been asked to stop.
The Municipal Assembly has since received backlash from people on especially social media because they cannot fathom why a good cause of the sort will be stopped by the Municipal Assembly.
But in a statement reacting to the claims the Assembly has denied stopping him from doing the work.
According to the Assembly, they rather invited John Dumelo for a discussion and also to provide him with experts so the dredging can be done at its best.
The Assembly was shocked that an invite has been spinned to mean stop work because they have always encouraged private persons to support in the development of the Assembly and will in no way ask Dumelo to stop work.
Read Statement Below
RE: Ayawaso West Municipal Stops John Dumelo
Our attention has been drawn to media reports that the Ayawaso West Municipal Assembly has stopped Mr. John Dumelo from carrying out dredging activities in the municipality.
We want to put it on record that the said report is FALSE.
It is unfortunate that people will for whatever reason put a spin on an invitation we made to Mr. Dumelo as a Stop notice.
Whilst it is true that my outfit invited him for a meeting with the Municipal Urban Roads and Workers Directors, it was to encourage him to liase appropriately with departments at the Assembly for effective supervision.
The Assembly is doing its best in tackling the numerous challenges facing the municipality, individuals can take care of some challenges if it posses a nuisance to them. The Local Government Act also requires that if a persons activities will pose a problem to the public the Assembly should intervene.
In the case regarding Mr. Dumelo, he is dredging a major storm drain that links Ayawaso West and Okai Kwei North Municipalities. Such works are carried out under the supervision of experts such as Municipal, Highway and or Hydro Engineers. Mr. Dumelo is undertaking this exercise without these experts.
Dredging is a major activity that requires expert advice from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies of state.
We therefore invited him to draw his attention to these facts and to encourage him to seek assistance from the Municipality as required by law.
The Municipal Assembly will support all private efforts aimed at community development regardless of motive.
The public is therefore called upon to disregard the falsehood and the mischief the publication sought to create.
Kindly call 0244918445 with your enquiries.
Thank you
Signed
Sandra Owusu-Ahinkorah
MCE, AWMA