Residents of Epoano, a coastal community in the Shama District, have said they would vote at Kafudzidzi in the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem (KEEA) District of the Central Region in the up-coming District Assembly Elections for being neglected by the assembly for a very long time.

They said the town had over 200 people who are predominantly farmers and fisher folks but lacked access road, pipe-borne water, electricity, school blocks and health facility.

Mr. Joseph Arthur, Secretary to the care-take chief who doubles as Community Secretary, told the Shama Traditional Council at a meeting in Shama that successive district chief executives and members of parliament visited the town during electioneering campaigns but failed to deliver on their promises, hence their resolved to cede allegiance to KEEA.

He said the inhabitants of Epoano travelled to Kafudzidzi, which is about one-and-half kilometres away from the town in the Central Region, to register during the limited voters’ registration exercise and would vote there during the district level election.

Mr Arthur said they even prevented officials undertaking the 2010 housing and population census from counting them because they had been neglected and left to fend for themselves.

He said women in labour often die on the way to health facilities in the Central Region.

“Although we accept that the land we are occupying belong to Shama Traditional Area, the inhabitant there have decided to cast our votes in any elections at Kafudzidzi in the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem district in the Central Region because we have not benefited from our original district over the years,” he said.

The District Chief Executive for Shama, Mr. Enoch Kojo Appiah, said he visited the town four times since the issue of neglect came to his attention and had put measures in place to provide basic social amenities in the area.

He said the town, which had between 500 and 700 acres of land, had been earmarked by the district as an industrial zone and that potential energy companies looking for a suitable place to construct thermal power plants could take advantage of this opportunity.

He advised the inhabitants of Epoano to rescind their decision and work with the district since the mistakes of the past would not be repeated.