Manso Dubia Roads Abandoned

…Politicians, Mining Firms Turn Blind Eye

The construction works on the Manso Adubia roads in the Ashanti Region, which started sometime in 2021, following series of demonstrations by residents and motorists, have been abandoned, leaving several portions of the road with potholes, now developed into manholes and making it a death-trap.

The situation, residents say, becomes worse especially during the rainy season, forcing motorists who use the road to take advantage of the issue to charge exorbitant fares and make life unbearable for commuters.

When The Anchor visited the area under the Amansie South and West districts, the contractor was nowhere to be found, with his equipment also missing on site.

There were also no signs of construction works at areas, such as Mim junction-to-Nyankomase and Akwasiso junction-to-Tontokromtownship.

The deplorable nature of the road, The Anchor gathered, has led to an increase in road accidents and rampant armed robbery in the communities dotted along the roads.

Attempts to get the name of the contractor have yielded no result, but insiders hinted this paper the project was partly awarded to a company linked to the Ashanti Regional chairman of New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly called ‘Chairman Wontumi.’

While some expressed deep disappointment in the political leadership in the area, others bemoaned failure on the part of large-scale mining firms operating in the area to take up the project,as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

They indicated that, even though the area is predominantly a mining community with multi-million companies, like Asanko Gold Mines and others operating within the jurisdiction, not much has been done for residents in terms of development.

Houses, trees and other structures nearby the road have all been painted brown, because of the dusty nature of the road, with fear of respiratory infections imminent.

According to residents and commuters, the sorry-state of their roads sometime make them wonder if they are not citizens of the country.

They lamented that the entire stretch of the road, starting from Anwiankwanta in the Bekwai Constituency through to communities, such as Manso Akywer3, Manso Agroyesum, Manso Akwasiso, Manso Nkran, Datano and Tontonkrom, has been in a terrible state for decades, with many areas completely eroded.

This paper also witnessed an incident where an earth-moving equipment, which was plying the road, got stuck in stagnant water in the middle of the road for weeks. At the time of filing this report, it is unclear, if owners of the equipment have managed to pull it out of the middle of the road.

Meanwhile, some indigenes of the area have taken to social media to confront their Member of Parliament (MP), Yaw Frimpong Addo, over when the roads will be fixed.

In September, last year, commuters on the Manso-Bekwai road were left stranded, following a demonstration by drivers, who ply their trade on that stretch.

The drivers, who numbered about 200, were protesting over the state of the 28-kilometre Anwiankwanta-Manso Atwedea road.

The impact was so serious that businesses and other activities were largely affected by the protest, which lingered for hours.

More To Come…

Source:Anchorghana.com