Residents of Kalbeo, a suburb of Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region have filled portions of an abandoned footbridge in the area for easy passage.
According to them, they have endured enough on the abandoned bridge and cannot wait any longer on the contractor hence their action.
It will be recalled that, the residents earlier this year expressed fear that, the footbridge if not fixed before the raining season, could destroy their properties and cut them off from the central business municipality as the stalled footbridge cannot withstand any torrential rains.
In view of that, the youth of the area on Tuesday,August 4, 2020 mobilized themselves and filled portions of the abandoned footbridge for accessibility.
Speaking to A1 News, Convener of the Youth, Isaac Nyaaba, justified why they have to embark on remedial works on portions of the footbridge.
“As community members, we fear that when it rains heavily we may lose our loved ones especially the little ones who do not know how to swim. We cannot wait to start recording losses of our loved ones before we can act.
We are only filling a portion of it, where we think if it rains, we can use to pass and our children can do the same. And we still expect the contractor and authorities to come and work on the foot bridge for us because what we are doing is just temporary.”
Some residents have also expressed the urgent need to use communal work to ensure that, the stalled footbridge does not negatively affect economic activities in the area.
A resident, Issaka Bin Abdulai said “It is a conspiracy to punish the people of Kalbeo because the Urban Roads Department awarded the contract to the said contractor that was not financially fit to execute the project yet gave him the contract. I’m highly disappointed with the manner in which the authorities from the Urban Roads as well as the contractor have handled us regarding the footbridge.
We have not heard anything from the contractor , none from the Department of Urban Roads in the municipality. It is sad for us and as community members, we see it as a duty to protect our children and women by filling a portion of the footbridge.”
Ayinsugiba Ayamba, a mother stated that, “If we go to our farmlands and it rains heavily it will be difficult for us to cross. You can imagine our younger ones who cannot swim and always in schools if it rains heavily how can they cross. It is sad for us here yet leaders are not doing anything about it.”
“You can see, when it rains heavily we cannot pass to the business center or to our farms. It is rather a fortune that schools are not incision if not nursery children would have found it difficult to go to school because they cannot cross it when it rains heavily.” Micheal Akanpee noted.
Meanwhile efforts made to get authorities of the Department of Urban Roads in the Bolgatanga Municipality to comment on the matter proved futile.
Source:|A1radioonline.com|101.1MHZ|Moses Apiah|Ghana
