The chief of Nyamekrom, a suburb of New Juaben South Municipality in the Eastern Region, Nana Kwame Nuro Agyepong II, has called on the government to fix the recently collapsed makeshift bridge and also their roads to curb unemployment and armed robbery in the community.
A torrential rainfall two weeks ago collapsed a link bridge from Nyamekrom to Koforidua.
The Municipal Assembly has since awarded the contract as works on the collapsed bridge have commenced and are expected to be completed in the next three months.
However, the residents mobilized to create another route but the contractor is charging a fee of Ghc2000.000 to place a temporal steel bridge on the access route which the residents can’t afford, hence appealing to the government to intervene with an immediate effect.
According to the chief, a lot of foodstuffs brought into Koforidua pass through the town adding that the washing away of the makeshift bridge had created inconveniences for farmers, market women, workers, and children who used the bridge to have access to Koforidua.
He noted that most of the youth in the community are taxi drivers but due to the bad condition of the roads, they have stopped working since the sales they make at the end of the day are used to repair their damaged cars.
He added that due to the collapse of the makeshift bridge the residents can not go to Koforidua, but rather pass through Akwadum which is also creating security problems for the commuters.
The chief explained that as a result of the bad roads, lorry fares and food prices in the area have gone up as compared to other communities in the New Juaben South Municipality.
He said low-income earners in the area are finding it difficult to survive and so the government should work on the roads as Nyamekrom is part of Koforidua and people in the area deserve their fair share of the national cake.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the New Juaben South Assembly, Isaac Appaw-Gyasi, when contacted said the assembly is collaborating with the Feeder Roads Department to create an alternative route for residents of Nyamekrom to enable them to have access to Koforidua.
According to him, the situation, where a makeshift bridge, connecting the town to Koforidua was washed away after a downpour that caused flooding, was unfortunate.
The MCE assured residents that the alternative route would be created, adding that it would solve the inconveniences created by the washing away of the bridge.
The MCE bemoaned the drainage system in the municipality has outlived its purpose adding that for the past few months the Municipality has been hit by floods after several days of downpour stating the need for them the revamping of drains in the Municipality.
He added that the reconstruction of the Nsukwao Basin Drainage project initiated by the Local Government under the Ghana Secondary Cities Support Programme “has solved the flood situation in a way.”
He added that but for the reconstruction of the drain the situation would have been worse. The
The MCE stated that the assembly was awaiting more funds to complete the project to solve flooding and its associated disasters in the Municipality.
BY Daniel Bampoe