The District Chief Executive (DCE) for South Tongu, Emmanuel Louis Agama, has expressed concern about what he described as the deteriorating nature of the Lower Volta Bridge at Sogakofe.
According to him, although the bridge continues to be in use, further delay in rehabilitating it would not be beneficial at all to the people living in the area.
He explained that some expansion joints had worn off thereby creating some sort of potholes. These potholes are becoming “death traps” as some motorists who attempt to swerve them end up in an accident.
Mr. Agama was therefore worried that the inability of the Authority concerned to reinstall the expansion joints could lead to serious consequences.
There have been recent reports of accidents on the said bridge which links the Greater Accra Region to the Volta Region. The said bridge is also on the main Ghana-Togo highway and facilitates trade and transportation between Ghana and other West African states.
The DCE raised the concern following a presentation by the Regional Engineer, Ghana Highway Authority, Mr. Philip Agbati, during the first meeting of the Volta Regional Co-ordinating Council (VRCC) held in Ho recently.
Mr. Agbati’s presentation centred on programmes of the Authority for the year 2018 and the achievements made so far.
In response, the regional engineer said the Authority had started processes to initiate rehabilitation works on the Sogakofe bridge, adding that the accidents on the bridge were unfortunate.
Bad Roads Killing Biakoye Residents
The DCE for Biakoye in the Volta Region, Madam Comfort Atta, on her part also bemoaned the poor nature of roads in her district saying “it is putting the lives of my people in danger”.
The nature of the roads has also given some unscrupulous people an advantage to rob drivers and passengers on these roads.
She narrated that the Kpando-Worawora-Dambai stretch which links the north to the south is in a deplorable state. As a result, drivers go at very low speed, thereby falling into the hands of armed robbers, who attack them together with passengers.
Madam Attah recounted how a driver who was a victim of such attacks was still in a morgue and yet to be buried.
She therefore called on the Regional Highway Authority to as a matter of urgency address the issue to safeguard lives in her district.
In response, Mr. Agbati said the road projects had stalled because contractors working on the projects had not been paid due to cash flow constraint.
He was hopeful that government would resolve the setback for the contractors to return to site.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)