Nana Arvo Nwiah V, the Chief of Tikobo No 2 community, in the Jomoro Municipality of the Western Region, has appealed to the government to ensure the contractor working on the Bawia to Tikobo No 2 road returns to site to complete the project.
The Mile 10 construction firm, contracted to fix the nine-kilometre Bawia to Tikobo No 2 road and other town roads, had abandoned the site for some time now leaving the roads in a deplorable condition.
Nana Nwiah V told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that the deplorable state of the road was affecting the movement of goods and services and crippled the local economy.
He said: “When we heard that the roads have been finally awarded for construction, we were all happy. However, the project was abandoned after the contractor had constructed just the drains.”
He continued: “We are being told that the contractor had passed on but the construction firm is still in existence so they must come and complete the works on the road for us.”
Nana Nwiah V indicated that the commercial drivers plying that stretch had taken advantage of the sorry state of the road to charge astronomical fares from passengers commuting within those areas.
“The drivers are charging these high fares because they pay higher fees to maintain their vehicles,” he added.
The Chief of Tikobo No 2 noted that “There were times no car could ply the road so, I had to use my personal money to buy gravels to fill portions of the road to temporarily put it into good shape before we could access the road else, we would be cut off from adjoining communities”.
He said all efforts by his outfit to get the officials of the Jomoro Municipal Assembly to address their concerns had proved futile.
Nana Nwiah V, therefore, appealed to the authorities to take urgent steps to get the contractor back on site to complete works on the road to help reduce the stress they went through when plying the road.
GNA
JP/GRB
Jan. 15,2024
