• Road users of the Somanya - Kpong road are not happy with the potholes on their road
•They have expressed their disappointment about how the road is spoilt after barely 2 years of construction
•They are hence calling on authorities to come to their aid
What was meant to serve as a relief to travellers on the Somanya-Kpong road in the Eastern Region following the construction of the Trom Junction-Somanya-Kpong road has turned into a nightmare as road users are currently bearing the same challenges suffered on the stretch before the repair.
This follows asphalt failures that began developing on the road barely two years after it was laid which has subsequently developed into full-grown potholes.
The construction firm, First Sky Limited, was awarded the contract for the reconstruction of the 15.8km Trom Junction – Somanya – Kpong project in 2014 at a cost of 30.8 million cedis which included works on drains, culverts, earthworks, subbase, stabilized base and sealing works which were duly completed in 2016.
However, a separate contract was thereafter awarded to a different construction firm to undertake an asphalt overlay on the same stretch of road but which has been at a standstill since December 2016 after about 11km of works had been done.
Some sectional failures of the asphalt overlay which have developed into potholes on the corridor shortly after have, however, left many users of the road livid as they face the same inconveniences experienced on the road before its reconstruction.
Some road users including drivers and residents who spoke to GhanaWeb expressed disappointment and frustration over the development.
Paul Addei, a commercial tricycle (Pragya) operator who has used the road for the past three years called on the relevant authorities including the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA) to immediately fix the problem as parts of their vehicles and motors were being destroyed.
“The potholes are not easy in Somanya. From roundabout to Atua is not easy. It affects our motors, especially the absorbers. The MCEs and MPs must work on this problem for us,” he appealed.
A taxi driver who gave his name as Offei William shared similar sentiments with GhanaWeb.
According to him, the situation was so bad that their vehicle parts were being affected by the situation.
He complained: “It is very worrying, the potholes are too much and disturbing the shocks, the tires. Everything they did was asphalt but I think it was a shoddy work, they didn’t do it well and now it has become a death trap while it is also worrying us.”
He ended with an appeal to the government to come to their aid by fixing the road.
An electrician and resident of Somanya, Samuel Tetteh, however, blamed the “shoddy” job on motorists, passengers, and residents who he said pressurized the contractor into rushing through the project and thus executing a poor job.
He said, “We face a lot of problems using this road because of the potholes.
Before they’ll construct the asphalt, it was a rough road with potholes but after the construction, I realized that the town people put pressure on the contractor due to the dust during the time of the work and due to that the contractor rushed to do the work how he liked [and] by two or three years’ time, the road has become what it is now.”
He also joined other users of the road to call for the fixing of the road.
