Kumasi, May 14, GNA- Members of the Atwima Aburaso Youth Association, near Kumasi, have made a passionate appeal to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to assist in getting a substantive chief for the town.

They said the absence of a chief at Aburaso has led to people arrogating power to themselves and allocating building plots, contrary to the layout of the area. In a statement signed by Mr Kwabena Gyamfi, chairman of the Association and 14 other members and issued to the Press in Kumasi on Tuesday, cited instances where parcels of land earmarked for development projects like schools, clinics, markets and others had been encroached upon.

The statement said the township was without water, places of convenience and a proper refuse dump, adding that, "the unavailability of these facilities had led to persistent outbreak of epidemics". "As the youth of the town, we are the people who are most affected by the absence of a chief and its attendant consequences and we therefore see our future to be very bleak with the present state of affairs", it said.

Atwima Aburaso has been embroiled in a chieftaincy dispute since the death of Nana Adane Ababio II, the last chief of the town in 2000.