Lack of basic amenities: Bachabor-Doo community appeals for support

Mohammed Fugu Oct - 14 - 2023 , 08:30

Bachabor-Doo is a farming community in the Mion District in the Northern Region.

With a population of more than 1,000 people, the community is one of the food baskets of the region as the residents are into both commercial and peasant farming.

They cultivate yam, maize, cowpea, soyabean, rice and rear livestock and poultry.

In fact, the story of agriculture cannot be told without mentioning the Bachador-Doo community due to its significant contribution towards food production.

In spite of the potentials of the community, it is underdeveloped and deprived. The community is lacking numerous basic social amenities which is negatively affecting the standard of living of the residents.

The Bachabor-Doo community

Challenges

For instance, the road network connecting the community to Mion, the district capital, is in a very deplorable state and has never seen any rehabilitation. During the rainy season, the residents are cut off from the rest of the district and region as cars and motorbikes are not able to access the road.

More troubling is the residents’ inability to cart their farm produce to the markets in the cities, especially during the rainy season due to the bad nature of the road.

Checks by the Daily Graphic indicated that since the inception of the community some decades ago, the road network had never seen any rehabilitation.

Also negatively impacting the lives of the people is lack of electricity in the area. Though an electricity project was started in 2016, it halted immediately after the elections.
During a recent visit, it was observed that the electricity poles and cables had been left at the mercy of the weather.

The only Community Health Planning Services (CHPS) compound, a dilapidated three-unit classroom block and a borehole serving the entire community were provided by non-governmental organisations (NGOs). However, these amenities are unable to meet the growing needs of the residents.

The road network linking the community to Mion, the district capital

Concerns

The residents told the Daily Graphic that they could not pinpoint any significant project successive governments or assemblies had provided for them.

The residents particularly complained about the deplorable nature of the road and said it was affecting their day to day activities as farmers.

A resident, Magnakigak Tignannaginne, lamented the frustrations women went through as a result of the bad roads and lack of electricity as well as access to some basic social amenities in the district capital.

“Pregnant women suffer a lot to access health care in Mion due to the bad nature of the road. Sometime ago, a pregnant woman nearly lost her life when she was on referral from the CHPS compound to the hospital,” she said.

Another resident, Baba Salifu, said “our checks reveal that the community electricity project was awarded on contract in 2016 by the National Democratic Congress-led administration and electricity poles were erected. However, the project was abandoned after they lost the elections.”

They, therefore, appealed to the government to provide basic amenities to improve their living condition.

Some abandoned electrical poles in the community

Neglect

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Chief of the community, Ubor Binagma Bachabor, said the continued neglect by successive governments could compel the community to boycott the forthcoming elections to register their displeasure with authorities.

He lamented the high rate of insecurity in the community, because of the absence of a police station in the community.

He, therefore, called on the assembly and the government to provide them with social amenities to help alleviate their plight.

Reacting to the concerns of the residents, the District Chief Executive of Mion, Samuel Negin Mahama, said the government had not forgotten about the development of the community, stating; "the community would soon receive their share of the national cake because our development plans have captured all the pressing needs of the community.

"I haven't forgotten the community; I was once a teacher in the community so I am fully aware of their challenges.”

Unor Binagma Bachabor (seated 2nd from right) with some residents of the community

SDGs

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11, four and three advocate sustainable cities and communities, quality education, and good health and well-being of all citizens irrespective of their geographical location.

However, achieving these goals by 2030 appears to be bleak with the glaring state of deprivation of communities such as Bachabor-Doo.

Writer’s email: mohammed.fugu@graphic.com.gh