Residents of Nyanshegu, a community in the Tamale metropolis in the Northern Region, have appealed to the government and Mighty Construction Limited (a contractor) working on their abandoned gutters to complete works on the project before the rains set in.
The residents who expressed their fears to GhanaWeb over the weekend noted that the gutters were awarded to a contractor in 2018, but have since been abandoned for years now without any explanations.
They explained that when it rains, water takes over most parts of the community because it has no routes to travel.
They made the appeals, during a visit to the community by the GhanaWeb on Saturday, February 27, 2022.
The residents lamented that their lives and properties were in danger should the rains set in and works on the gutters are not completed.
One of them, Abubakari Inusah told GhanaWeb that water enters their homes and rooms anytime there is a heavy downpour.
"You need to be here on a rainy day to see things for yourself when it rains, all this place is full of water, and movement becomes very difficult," he said.
"This is the saddened part of Nyanshegu and its environs. It hurts seeing one's backyard like this," another resident said.
They have therefore appealed to the government and the contractor to complete the work to save them from flooding in the coming raining season.
"We don't know who is at fault, whether the government or the contractor, but what we want is the work to be done," they said.
They said that if the contractor does not return to the site in 3 three months' time, they might have to go on demonstration to draw public attention to the issue.
"We will be staging a huge demonstration towards the government for this abandoned project, it's just a matter of time," a resident lamented.
"If we don't see any action, we will come out in our numbers to show our displeasure," they said.
Speaking to GhanaWeb, the assembly member for the Nyaanshegu-Gumani electoral area, Hon. Mohammed Awal indicated that he has been to the Urban roads severally on the matter, but to no avail.
He noted further that the contractor complained of a lack of funds to continue because the government failed to release money for him to work.
"I have been to the office of the Urban road on several occasions, yet nothing has been done. The contract belongs to one Alhaji Hafiz of Mighty Constructions, he said there is no money to continue because the government hasn't paid him for the work he has already done", Hon. Awal said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the GhanaWeb, the contractor, Alhaj Hafiz, said work on the gutters halted because the government failed to release funds for him to continue.
He lamented that the government, after he raised the certificate or the works done so far, was yet to pay him, adding that since he has not paid his debtors, there was no way he could borrow further to complete the works.
"My brother, the truth is just one, there is no money to do the work. Can you imagine the money I borrowed to do the work, the government has not made any payment yet," he told GhanaWeb.
He said he was waiting on the government, and once money was released to him, he will return to work immediately.
"It is not my wish that the gutters have not been completed, I would have loved by now that the work was done and myself I will be free. Every day I used the road and I feel sad when I see it like that, but I have been on government for long to release funds for me and nothing is being done," he lamented.
The residents want the gutter project completed