A 19-year-old girl has drowned in an abandon pit at Opeikuma in the Awutu Senya East Municipality throwing the town into a state of mourning. According to a witness, last Monday evening around 1600hrs during a rainfall at Kasoa, the deceased who was with her other siblings, left them to swim in the water which swept her into an abandoned pit left by Atiwa Stone Quarry since 2019. So far two people had died whilst three had been rescued from the pit since it was abandoned. Other eyewitnesses who pleaded anonymity, said traditional leaders in the area were later informed of the drowning incident and after a search, the girl was discovered in the pit. The source said a young man from Swedru who came to work there died exactly a year ago, adding that prior to that, the operations of the quarry had caused series of problems to the community including the damaging of roofs, windows, and household appliances. They appealed to authorities to press on the company to cover the pit to avoid any unforeseen circumst ances. The grieving father of the deceased, Bashiru Abubakar, however declined to speak to the media. Meanwhile, the company in an interview denied any wrongdoing, saying that they acquired the land including a buffer zone from the traditional authority, but the chiefs later sold portions of the demarcated area as buffer zone to developers and that had resulted in the tragedies. Manager for Atiwa Stone Quarry, Mr. Alphonse Mensah, told journalists the company had issued several warnings to community members not to trespass in the area, but all had fallen on deaf ears. Chief of the Area, Nana Opei Mensah, shared his side of the story, and stressed that the company extended it territory beyond the boundaries. Source: Ghana News Agency
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