Two firemen injured during protest over bad roads in Afienya

Two fire service personnel sustained varied degrees of injuries during a protest over bad roads in the community.
The fire personnel who were part of a reinforcement team sent from the Tema Region to calm down angry protesters were pelted.
The demonstration was organised by the Ningo-Prampram Youth Development Association to protest the bad nature of the Afienya-Dawhuenya road.
The angry youth in a petition presented to the District Chief Executive for Ningo-Prampram, Jonathan Paa Nii Doku, issued a 14-day ultimatum to the government to rehabilitate the road to stop them from blocking it.
The deteriorated road was awarded on contract about five years ago causing the contractor, Siemens Construction to move to site and commence work on the stretch.
Grading began and houses were demolished along the earmarked route but work unfortunately halted not too long after that, for reasons yet to be established.
Residents whose houses were demolished are yet to be compensated by the government. Others are also suffering from respiratory-related diseases due to the constant inhalation of dust particles.
The only Health Centre and public school along the route are buried in dust.
Heavy trucks using the route also constantly knock down heavy trucks due to poor visibility especially in the dry season. Vehicles regularly breakdown having a toll on drivers and car owners.
Residents have thus appealed to the government to in a spate of two weeks respond to their concern to prevent them from blocking the road.
Meanwhile, the situation escalated when re-enforcement from the regional headquarters arrived at the demonstration leading to the injury of two firemen who were pelted and rushed to hospital.
The demonstrators later presented a petition to the Roads and Highways Ministry through the DCE.
The DCE after receiving the petition said the 7.2 kilometres road was variated from one carriage to double without approval from the sector ministry.
According to him, the current government had approved the variation in 2017, however, the contractor also complained of non-payment of some work done when he was called to site.
The Roads and Highways Ministry, the DCE noted, has honoured some of the contractor’s certificates for payment.
He therefore assured the angry residents that work will commence on the road in question soon.
 
 
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Edward Sebbie