Residents of Jijen, a community in the Sissala East Municipality in the Upper West Region, are calling on the government and relevant stakeholders to improve road infrastructure and provide reliable telecommunications network services to aid their development.
The community is currently challenged by poor road conditions and the absence of telephone network connectivity, a situation residents say continues to impede communication, restrict access to emergency services, and slow down socio-economic progress.
Despite these difficulties, the people of Jijen have shown remarkable commitment to development through various self-help initiatives. A recent visit by a news team revealed that the community had constructed a maternity block for its clinic and added a ward with more than 15 beds to improve healthcare delivery.
In the education sector, residents have built a three-unit classroom block for the community’s only basic school and provided a six-unit teachers’ quarters equipped with washrooms and kitchen facilities to attract and retain teaching staff. They have also supplied the school with water storage drums.
Other notable projects undertaken by the community include the renovation of the central mosque, the drilling of seven boreholes, and the mechanisation of two of them to enhance access to clean drinking water.
The Assembly Member for the area, Hon. Adamu Kagia, emphasized that the lack of telecommunications services remains a major challenge, affecting communication and emergency response. He added that the poor state of roads continues to limit movement and development in the area.
Similarly, the PTA Chairman, Mr. Suara Baduon, expressed concern about the lack of network coverage, noting its negative impact on teaching and learning.
Community members Mr. Iddrisu Basuglo and Mr. Benin Sulemanio explained that funding for these projects was mobilised internally. They said the community initially raised funds through the harvesting and sale of rosewood and later supplemented the funds with compensation received from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
According to them, unlike in other communities where such compensation is shared among individuals, the people of Jijen chose to invest the funds into projects that benefit the entire community and future generations.
The residents are therefore appealing for urgent intervention to improve road networks and extend telecommunications services to complement their development efforts.
