General News of Saturday, 24 March 2007

Source: GNA

Manet residents call for supply of social amenities

Accra, March 24, GNA - The Manet Ville Residents Association on Saturday called on the management of the Manet Housing Limited to provide without delay the social amenities that they had promised in the brochure when the houses were been sold out.

Residents said since moving into their homes some eight years ago facilities such as street lightning, an ultra-modern shopping centre, the recreational centre and school as well as tarred roads and adequate drainage pledged to be provided by the company had all remained an illusion.

Mr Edem Senanu, President of the Residents Association told a press conference in Accra, that besides the facilities, the absence of a completed perimeter fence wall and security posts, with lights and security bars put the lives of the residents at risk and made them easy prey for attack by thieves as everyone had access to the estate. "Hardly a day passes by without a resident having his car broken into. You have to go everywhere with your kids because you are not sure what might happen in your absence," he said.

Mr Senanu said all attempts to get management of the company to fulfil its obligations to residents since 2001 had fallen on deaf ears and pledged the resolve of members to use all available platforms to have their rights met.

According to him, since 1999, there had been no progress on the ultra modern shopping complex promised or the recreational centre. The estate had not been completely walled off, security posts not completed and street lighting did not exist in various sections of the estate.

Besides, various sections of roads in the estates remain untarred and large sections of the estate have no gutters or drains for rainwater resulting in water collecting in pools and breeding mosquitoes.

"We shall continue to keep this issue at the heart of public debate. We will be vigilant, persistent and committed. We shall make the sacrifices that are necessary and we will not be swayed by any challenge that comes our way," he told journalists at the press conference.

Mr. Senanu appealed to Parliament, the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and the Environmental Protection Agency to assist in ensuring that the right thing was done. "We call on all well-meaning Ghanaians home and abroad to condemn such actions and to refuse to tolerate service providers who will not deliver on their promise, wherever they may be found and whenever they seek their patronage," he stressed.