A scene at the Buipe-Yapei bridges
A visit by DAILY GUIDE to the Buipe-Yapei bridges has revealed that after a week of closure, work is yet to commence on them.
The bridge was closed to vehicles due to its poor state, making it unsafe for travelers to use them.
Motorists travelling to the northern sectors of the country are finding it difficult, most of them getting stranded at the Yeji ferry station because the only ferry available doesn’t have the capacity to ferry them (vehicles) across the river.
Although the Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Atta, gave the assurance that all the needed logistics and funds for the maintenance works had be provided, work on the bridges is yet to start.
The roads minister indicated that the cracks developed all of a sudden which called for immediate work to prevent any catastrophe from happening on that stretch of the road.
However, Mr Amoako-Atta revealed that the first quarter of next year should see some new developments on the two bridges.
He hinted that plans were advanced to replace the bridges for good to make them safer for use.
According to residents of the area, the engineers contracted to do the work on the bridges were the same engineers who worked on them earlier this year.
They said the government should have awarded the contract to different engineers since the earlier ones could not work properly on the bridges.
Some drivers who shared their frustrations with DAILY GUIDE said they had been stranded and left unattended to for the past one week.
The closure has affected the economic conditions of residents and market women.
Some drivers from the southern parts of the country have blamed the roads and highways authority for not prompting road users from Techiman and other parts of the country of the conditions of the bridges to stop them from using the Buipe road.
Meanwhile, some drivers told DAILY GUIDE that some travelers using the Sawla road were sometimes attacked and robbed by armed robbers.
FROM Eric Kombat, Buipe