Correspondence from Eastern Region
Read full articleResidents of Lower Manya Krobo in the Eastern Region want works on an abandoned 10 km of town roads completed to address the inconveniences posed to both drivers and inhabitants.
Works on the roads designed to serve as the first phase of the construction of town roads in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality began in May 2020 and September 2020 respectively under different contractors.
In May 2020, the former Deputy Eastern Regional Minister and NPP Parliamentary Candidate for the area, Samuel Nuertey Ayertey cut the sod for the construction of a 2.1km Manya Kpongunor-Bana Hill road.
The project, awarded to Memphis Company Limited was expected to be completed within 12 months.
Construction works have however stalled on the project.
Subsequently, the former Deputy Minister broke the grounds for the commencement of construction works on the 8km of town roads in other parts of the municipality in September 2020.
The GHc 15.5m project being undertaken by Kingdwosco Construction Limited was also expected to be completed within 12 calendar months to cover projects such as Nuaso Town roads, Kpong Beach road, Ablotsi-Agbom-Airport road, Atua Hospital road, and the Kpong Quarters road.
The Atua Government Hospital project for instance, when completed would ease the travelling difficulties experienced by drivers and patients when accessing the hospital.
The completion of the Ablotsi-Agbom-Airport stretch is also expected to create a by-pass away from the main Somanya-Kpong road and ease traffic congestion at Agomanya on market days.
However, only gutters were laid at selected areas with works being abandoned a month after the commencement of works.
Some drivers and residents interviewed on the affected roads expressed frustration at the government’s inability to complete the works.
GhanaWeb observed that most parts of the abandoned drainages at the Airport area were choked with rubbish, blocking the free flow of water which results in the area flooding during downpours.
Residents say despite regular clean-up exercises to address the problem, it repeats itself too often and expressed the hope that completing the project would bring them relief.
Youth Chief of the Zongo Community at Agomanya, Lamin Mohammed stated the dangers, frustrations, and inconveniences being faced by residents around the area as it flooded whenever it rained.
“Sometimes when it rains, even our stores are flooded. When the gutters overflow, it enters our stores and this has happened several times and destroyed our items,” he narrated.
He added that efforts to get the contractor to clear the road of concrete remnants from old gutters he broke down to pave way for the new ones and dumped on the shoulder of the road have been abandoned, posing danger to both motorists and pedestrians.
Lamin Mohammed, therefore, appealed to the government through the MCE for the area to ensure that the contractor returns to the site as soon as possible.
A taxi driver, Prosper Kwame lamented over the situation. According to him, the traffic build-up on the main road on Wednesdays and Saturdays is so unbearable that using the horrible by-passes remained the only option available for drivers.
“This road is in terrible shape. If possible, it should be constructed for us because the main road is narrow and there is huge traffic on market days so we resort to the by-passes so we plead with the government to complete the work for us,” said Prosper.
The driver also complained about the dusty nature of the road, especially during the dry season as well as the effects on their vehicle parts, and pleaded with the government to immediately address the situation.
A tailor, Kwabena Asare Appiah whose shop is located along one of the routes complained about the effects of the dust on his work.
He old GhanaWeb thus, “As you can see, the whole area, dust. Anytime you enter your room, there’s dust, even when you’re preparing your food, there’s dust. It affects a whole lot of things, even in terms of health, it’s affecting us a lot.”
Explaining reasons for the delay in completing the project, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Lower Manya Krobo, Honourable Simon Kwaku Tetteh told GhanaWeb in an interview that the contractors after assuming works vacated the site but assured that works would resume soon.
“The projects have been awarded, the contractor [Kingdwosco] came to the site and did some work and he’s mobilizing to come back to the site to complete the work…and other road networks that we’re pursuing for it to be awarded. Akuse is a concern to us and we’re working in collaboration with the highways to ensure that that road is awarded,” said the Assembly Chief.
According to Mr. Tetteh, other roads in other areas of the municipality such as the ‘Middle Belt’ “will soon see action” as the Department of Feeder Roads has done an assessment of the road network in the area towards their rehabilitation.
He appealed to the people to exercise further patience as the problem is addressed.
