It was all dust on the Aflao Police Station-Diamond Cement Factory Road when aggrieved residents hit the road Tuesday to demand that the road be fixed.
The protest saw red-attired residents, holding out leaves and placards, walked the five-kilometre distance on foot from Gagodzi near Diamond Cement Ghana Limited (DCGL) while others sat on motorbikes with leaves tied to them, which swept the road as they rode generating dust.
The protesters, who chanted war songs, to convey their mood were compelled by the Police to end their walk some few metres from the Aflao Police Station.
Mr Eric Kumado, reading the petition said the road had been tormenting them for years and that government should with urgency come to their rescue or give tax reliefs to DCGL to enable the Company to fix the road.
He said residents and users of the road had endured the dust pollution for years and could no longer accept the inhumanity to them, especially when the road serves DCGL, “the biggest company in Volta Region.”
“When the sun shines, every human being using the road suffocates due to heavy pollution. There are several respiratory infection cases in our clinics due to dust pollution on this road. Mud is splashed on school children when it rains. Some children out of frustration never reached their schools. Teachers using the road are also not spared.
Motor riders on this road slip and get injured, maimed and killed. His Excellency, this road we are talking about is so dangerous that it interferes with the most powerful arm of government, the judiciary.”
Mr Elliot Edem Agbenorwu, Municipal Chief Executive of Ketu South, who received the petition, assured the demonstrators that he would forward it to the President for action.
He said the road had already started receiving attention, noting that the government had taken steps by sending engineers to conduct some tests for the start of actual construction work and that the protest would only serve as a reminder to the government to fix the road.
Mr Sylvester Kumawu, Assemblyman for Amutinu, who travelled from his area to join the protest, told the Ghana News Agency that it was in solidarity with the people of Aflao.
“I feel the need to join hands with the residents to protest against the bad road. My people also travel on the road. It’s not just Aflao but all of us.”
“The road is both dusty and muddy depending on the season. We’re suffering a lot in our homes. The dust collects on everything and this has been the situation for years. We the people of Aflao will continue with the protest until this road is fixed even if it leads to death. Death is just once anyway,” Madam Suzzy Nyalete said.
Source: GNA
