Minister of Roads and Highways Kwasi Amoako-Atta, says government will give emergency attention to all roads destroyed by the recent floods in the Upper West Region.
“The flood disaster in the region is an emergency situation, and it will be given an emergency treatment by the government”, the Roads Minister assured.
Mr Amoako-Atta said this when he addressed the media in Wa after taking an area view of the situation with the military helicopter during his visit to the region to assess the situation.
“The President has given me strong instruction to solve the problem as soon as practicable because he does not want any part of the country to be cut off”, he said.
The Minister admitted that he and his team were overwhelmed by the magnitude of damage caused by the recent floods after taken an area view, but expressed hope that it was not beyond solution.
Mr Amoako-Atta said the culverts were still intact because they were solidly built, noting that what was destroyed would be fixed as soon as possible to restore activity on the roads.
He said his Ministry had scheduled a meeting with PW GHANEM Construction Limited in Accra on Monday and work was expected to commence after the meeting as resources needed would have been mobilized.
He said his colleague, the Minister of Agriculture and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) would collaborate to handle those who had their farms destroyed by the floods.
The floods, which washed off several bridges in the region had led to about four Districts-Nadowli District, Lawra Municipal, Nandom Municipal, Jirapa Municipal, and Lambussie District being cut off from the Regional Capital, Wa.
Since the disaster, people traveling in and out of the region, as well as people traveling in from neighbouring Burkina Faso, had been left stranded.
Meanwhile, between Serekpere and Nadowli where about three bridges on the tarred road were washed off, passengers including students and market women were left stranded.
Some youth in neighbouring communities also took advantage to cash in by assisting the stranded passengers to cross the washed-off bridges with their luggage for a fee.
The Minister was accompanied by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Ofei Annorh, Director of the Department of Urban Roads, Abass Awolu, and Chief Executive Officer of Highways, Christian Nti.
GNA