The social, cultural and the economic characteristics  are many and varied due to its location.  The existence of extensive natural resources has to a large extent determined the socio-economic lives of the people.  This chapter is intended to analyze the various social, cultural and economic activities including the facilities.

Economic Infrastructure

The total Road Network of 627.1Km which comprises 200km of Trunk Roads, 24.8km of Town (urban) Roads and 402.3km of Feeder Roads.  The Road Network which used to be very poor is being improved upon steadily. The Apemanim – Tarkwa Road (62km) for instance  is being rehabilitated (asphalted) and sources are that the Tarkwa – Bogoso Trunk Road would also be rehabilitated soon.

The Town Roads are being taken care of by the Ghana Highway Authority.  Tarkwa Road Area are on contracts since the Dept of Urban Roads are not here and more so due not attaining the Urban status yet.  The feeder Roads are handled by the Dept. of Feeder Roads but on contracts.  Advantageously, the motor grader (CAT140H) which supplements the work of the Department by grading and opening up communities with both maintainable and non-maintainable feeder roads.

Some of these roads after grading require the construction of culverts, regravelling, sectional gravelling, Local Raising (Filling of low lying areas) etc but are left unattended to their high due to project costs.   The needs to open up or even link many villages by initially clearing with a contracted Bull Dozer before the  Motor Grader does the shaping.

Investment & Business Potential

The sheer enormity of the investment potentials possessed by the reflected in the wide presence of numerous private enterprises and corporations dotted all over. For instance, there are nine large-scale mining companies, five manufacturing companies, four service firms, four industrial laboratories, five commercial banks two rural banks an two non-banking financial institutions among others.

Actually, the Municipality is most renowned as a major mining area, literally overflowing with proven viable mineral deposits. Already, leading mining firms such as Ashanti Goldfields, Teberebie Goldfields, Barnex Prestea, Goldfields Ghana and Prestea Gold Resources are very active in mining and exploration . Other operational mining firms  are Bogoso Gold, Abosso goldfields and Ghana Manganese Company.

Inspite of all these investments, potentials still exist in the mining sector considering the vastness of land with proven viable mineral deposits. Mineral prospecting is still going on in many parts . The strength of the mining, industrial and service sectors, have resulted in a large pool of workers that have considerable effective purchasing power.

The large population with its varied ethnic groups, including foreigners provide a great potential for the establishment of supermarkets and other outlets for trade and commerce. Indeed, enterprises that provide a wide range of commercially oriented communal services also have great prospects .

This can be attested to by the number of banks that are doing brisk business . Standard Chartered Bank, Social Security Bank Limited and Barclays Bank, all maintain vibrant branches  spurred on by large and still rising business volumes both in terms of retail banking and corporate banking. Also, Bogoso Rural Bank and Mansoman Rural bank are providing banking services to the rural grassroots.

The agricultural sector too provides varied potentials .Weather conditions are favourable with rainfall virtually throughout the year, a mean monthly temperature of 260C and a record of no extreme weather conditions.Coupled with this, is good soil formation.All these make the cultivation of vegetables such as tomatoes, pepper, garden eggs on a large scale rewarding.

The conditions also favour large scale cultivation of tree crops like oil palm, cocoa, coffee, cola, woodlot, rubber and coconut, including non-traditional crops such as ginger, citrus, pineapple, black pepper, snail and mushroom.In addition, the farming of food crops like plantain, maize, cassava and cocoyam would be very favourable.Poultry and livestock farming have the added advantages of having both the necessary labour and product markets .

The Municipality has a total agricultural land area of 1,083 square kilometres of arable land. This sheer size ensures that there is no significant conflict between surface mining and farming, thus being limited to very small and concentrated areas . The problem of credit and extension services is being seriously addressed by the central government and the Assembly through decentralization of extension services and policies aimed at increasing access to credit.

Lumbering and wood processing is the least developed in the industrial sector .It is mostly dominated by small-scale or chain saw operators.However, there is a great potential for large-scale investment. There are  three forest reserves covering an area of 440.2 square kilometres imbued with high quality wood for processing.Strong potentials also exist in agro-based industries.

The agricultural produce derived are in large quantities but poor marketing and storage facilities leave most of this produce to go rotten. Investment in this area would turn the primary products into secondary products and this would have a synergic effect on the agricultural sector. Investment in storage facilities would also prove profitable. Finally, the potential for large transport business cannot be over emphasized.

The large population and the agglomeration of industries  make this very viable, since demand, from both individuals and corporate entities is high, for transport services.  is one of the most industrialized districts in the county and this, in itself, confers distinct advantages on investors who resultantly have a wider choice of opportunities to choose from. Little wonder then, that,  is home to more private enterprises .

Projects/Programmes By Mce

Pocc

POTENTIAL    OPPORTUNITIES CONSTRAINTS    CHALLENGES
 
1.    Teachers
2.    Classrooms
3.    Logistics
4.    Existence of well organized SMC’s/PTA    
1.    Capitation Grant
2.    NEPAD School Feeding Programme
3.    GETfund
4.    D.A.C.F/ M.D.F./ Donors
5.    Mining Companies
6.    Wassa Fiase Education Fund
7.    Best Teacher Award Scheme

Constraints    Challenges

1.    Inadequate supervision of schools
2.    Truancy
3.    Involvement of school children in Galamsey activities
4.    Poverty 
5.    Lack of parental care and guidance
6.    Lack of commitment on the part of teachers
7.    Inadequate teaching/learning materials
8.    Poor school infrastructure facilities in the rural areas
9.    Inadequate teachers at all level
10.    Unwillingness of newly trained teachers to accept posting to rural areas    
1.    Inadequate vehicles for supervision
2.    Inadequate funding from the Central Government
3.    Inadequate annual teacher allocation to the District
4.    Delays of newly recruited  teachers