Residents of Yikene in the Bolgatanga Municipality are struggling to access their main source of water, a health centre and a primary school after a major culvert connecting parts of the community collapsed.
Residents say the damaged culvert has also become a safety hazard, with two motorcyclists reportedly falling into the opening and being taken to hospital.
The culvert, located behind Jocom Golden Hotel, provides an important link between the Chief Linguist’s house and key facilities, including Yikene Primary School, the Yikene Health Centre, the community borehole and a direct route to the Chief’s Palace.
Its collapse has left a large opening along the route, making movement difficult and dangerous.
Atisibange Atinga, a resident, said the damage has particularly affected access to the community’s main water source.
“Now that the culvert is broken, we cannot go and fetch water from the community borehole, and that is our only source of water for our daily activities,” she said.
She said the situation had already resulted in accidents.
“Two motorists have fallen into the hole in the culvert and were sent to the hospital. We are lucky that the culvert broke at a time when the students are on vacation. If not, we do not know how they would have managed.”
Felix Atabnoore Akolgo, an eyewitness and resident, said the culvert was originally constructed by a United Nations military officer who lived in the area and wanted to control flooding around his residence.
“The culvert was constructed by an individual who is a UN military man. He built his house around the area, and the waterway was always flooding his house, so he decided to construct the culvert,” he said.
According to Mr Akolgo, the force of the water eventually overwhelmed the structure.
“As you can see, the water is stronger than the culvert, so it has broken down. It has made it difficult for those of us at the other end of the culvert to access water, education and healthcare.”
He appealed to the Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central and the Municipal Chief Executive to intervene.
“I am calling on the MP for Bolga Central and the Municipal Chief Executive to come and help reconstruct the culvert so that movement can become effective again,” he said.
Assembly Member for the Yikene Electoral Area, Francis Asare Akolbila, described the situation as worrying and said it required urgent attention.
“The issue is very devastating and needs urgent attention,” he said.
Mr Akolbila said he would engage the appropriate authorities to inspect the damaged culvert and determine what could be done to restore the route.
“I will go to Town and Country Planning and take them to the site to see what they can do to address the situation,” he said.
Residents are calling for urgent intervention before the situation worsens, particularly when schools reopen and pupils begin using the route again.
With the culvert providing access to a school, health centre, borehole and other parts of Yikene, residents say its collapse has gone beyond a transportation problem and is now affecting access to some of the community’s most essential services.
A1 Radio | 101.1 MHz | Mary Atiamha Aperika | Bolgatanga
