Assin Darmang: Agenda 111 site turns into hideout for wee smokers, snake den

An abandoned Agenda 111 project at Assin Darmang in the Assin South District, which is 85 per cent complete, has been overrun by weeds and turned into a hideout for wee smokers, reptiles and snakes.

Machines remain idle while warehouses sit tightly locked, as if the entire facility has been frozen in time.

Erosion has also ravaged the previously levelled ground due to the slanting topography and the absence of properly constructed gutters to channel run-off water.

Heavy rains have carved gullies through exposed soil, undermining foundations and leaving sections of the site uneven and hazardous.

At the entrance of the final building, marked as a morgue, the reporter and an escort narrowly escaped being bitten by a giant cobra coiled near the doorway — a grim reminder of the neglected facility’s transformation into a haven for dangerous snakes.

Several other snakes slithered away during the GNA’s tour of the site, disappearing into crevices and leaf litter as they instinctively fled from human presence.

Meanwhile, a group of youths, most of them under 30, were openly smoking in one of the rooms when the incident occurred. They quickly rushed in to help and appeared unfazed by the reporter’s presence. After killing the cobra, they boldly demanded money for food.

Mr Jonathan Birikorang, the Assin South District Chief Executive (DCE), assured the GNA that efforts were underway to ensure the urgent completion of the facility.

Speaking in an interview, he said the hospital, intended to serve more than 120,000 people, remained a priority under President John Dramani Mahama’s pledge to complete all ongoing and abandoned projects.

According to him, residents across political divides were united in their desire to see the project completed, a commitment demonstrated by volunteers who recently cleared weeds around the site.

“The sight breaks my heart,” he said. “Since I assumed office, I have visited the site many times. It is unacceptable that such an important facility could not be completed.”

Mr Birikorang lamented that residents continued to travel long distances to access healthcare because the district’s only Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound and existing health centres were inadequate.

He explained that residents were often forced to seek treatment in neighbouring districts, including at St Francis Xavier Hospital in Assin Central, Abura-Dunkwa Government Hospital in Abura-Aseibu-Kwamankese, and Asikuma Government Hospital in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District.

The situation, he noted, had placed additional pressure on those facilities while reducing productivity as patients and caregivers spent hours travelling for treatment.

“When emergency cases cannot get timely care near home, complications rise and recovery becomes difficult,” he said.

“It is unfortunate that we do not have any polyclinic or hospital here. This facility will greatly help the people, and I believe the President will support its completion.”

The DCE further disclosed that the district’s only ambulance had been out of service for months, worsening the challenges faced by residents in the largely rural district.

Ms Susana Bill, the Assin South District Director of the Ghana Health Service, welcomed President Mahama’s pledge to complete selected Agenda 111 projects and appealed for the district’s hospital to be included.

She said completion of the project would strengthen the government’s Primary Health Care programme by expanding local capacity for emergency and basic healthcare, reducing travel times for rural patients and easing pressure on larger hospitals.

Improved district health infrastructure, she added, would allow more services — including maternal and child healthcare, diagnostics, routine surgeries and emergency stabilisation — to be delivered locally, thereby reducing referrals to regional and tertiary hospitals.

Ms Bill also called for parallel investments in trained personnel, medicines and ambulance services to ensure completed facilities function effectively.

Nana Okofo Kwadwo Bi Benti II, Chief of Darmang, described the absence of a district hospital as unfortunate and appealed through the GNA to government to prioritise and complete the project.

Residents of Assin Darmang, Nyankomasi Ahenkro and Homaho who spoke to the GNA, including a mother of three, Madam Matilda Asare Boadu, recounted the difficulties of searching for transport at night to reach hospitals in other districts.

“Our plea is simple and urgent — complete the hospital, equip it and provide staff, so that the next mother in labour or accident victim will not have to travel long distances for care,” she said.