Kwasi Amoako-Atta – Road Minister
Residents who are affected by deplorable roads in the Volta Region have petitioned government to start fixing their roads in the next two weeks or prepare for a series of demonstrations across the region and other parts of the country.
The residents who have united together under an group called “Fix Volta Roads Now” lamented bitterly about the roads in the Volta Region, particularly the Ho to Sokode Dual Carriage with the Bypass through the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) and the Ho through the Airport to Aflo Road. The others are the infamous Eastern Corridor Road, particularly the Juapong through Asikuma to Hohoe Road and the Hohoe to Jasikan Road.
These roads remain the main routes linking the Southern part of the region to the Northern part and hence facilitates trade, tourism, health access and a gamut of economic activities, yet they are so deplorable that some portions can simply be described as “death traps.”
The group in a press statement and petition signed and issued by its convenor, Dr. Alphonse Dzakpasu and secretary, Lawyer Andrew Dodzi Adugu said “In our petition to the president, we have given government up to 15th of September, 2019 to get contractors on site and begin work… We believe with the many assurances promised in the past, processes for work to resume on these roads can take 2 weeks to be completed.”
It stressed that “we are tired of the promises. All we want is action now!”, the group threatened that if work does not begin by their deadline, “government would have given us no choice than to respond to the demand by our highly motivated colleague campaigners to embark on massive and series of lawful demonstrations across the country and even beyond.”
The group’s petition which was backed by an online petition with over a 1000 signatories so far have since been served on the President, the Roads and Highways Minister and the Volta Regional Minister, among others.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)