Minister orders immediate reconstruction of broken bridge at Agormanya
Isaac Akwetey-Okunuor
The Eastern Regional Minister, Emmanuel Victor Smith, has ordered the immediate reconstruction of the broken culvert at Agormanya, which has led to the diversion of traffic on the main Kpong-Odumase road since last week, nearly sparking protests in the area.
The Minister’s gave the order when he paid a visit to the area to assess at firsthand the state of the culvert and its effect on the businesses and lives of the people.
He was accompanied by his Deputy, Okletey Terlarbi, the Municipal Chief Executive, Isaac Agbo Tetteh, engineers from the military, and officials from the Ghana Highways Authority.
According to the Regional Minister, the reconstruction would be done within six weeks under what he described as a “Certificate of Urgency,” during which the main bypasses in the area, including the Fire Stone-Ablotsi-Agormanor as well as the Agormanya-Agbom roads, would all be upgraded to accommodate the traffic.
He also indicated that a footbridge would be constructed over River Odaw to make the market readily accessible for pedestrians during the construction period, work is however is expected to start on Monday.
The Konor of the Manya Krobbo Traditional Area, Nene Sakite II, even though he thanked the Minister for the construction of the road, he did not hesitate to demonstrate his displeasure over the state of roads in the traditional area.
“I am still unhappy about the general state of the roads, and I know my people have serious concerns, particularly, the youth, because of the attendant road accidents, loss of lives, and other related inconveniences,” adding, “it is high time something was done.”
Mr. Philip Tetteh Padi, Commissioner of Kloma Gbi, a pressure youth group in the area, said, “the collapse of the culvert and the negative ripples we are experiencing now, could have been prevented if the authorities had acted proactively, because it started giving signs of imminent collapse long ago.”
“We are however, happy the Minister has acted, and we expect him and the other authorities to attach same importance to the entire road network, before the community rises up,” he added.
The Secretary of the Odumase branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Mr. Opata Kpabitey, said the reconstruction of the road was timely, since drivers can start using the Somanya-Nkurakan road to Asesewa, instead of the pothole-ridden Odumase-Aseswa road, which has a heavy negative effect on their vehicles.
It would be recalled that youth around Agormanya spontaneously mounted a road block last week and diverted traffic through the exterior parts of the town, when a culvert on the main Odumase-Kpong road (around the Agormanya Filling station) caved in after a heavy downpour, and diverted traffic in a manner that nearly triggered a revolt in the Municipality.
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