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Residents of Agric Settlement, a suburb of Canteen in the West Gonja Municipality of the Savannah region have expressed worry over the destruction of the road network leading to the community by road contractors and some private individuals.
According to them, the act will have a heavy toil on the community and putting the lives of motorists and other road users at risk, especially farmers, women and the school going children.
The community members disclosed this to the Assembly Member for the area at a community debur held on Saturday, 22nd January, 2022, to review activities for the year 2021 and to set community goals for the year 2022.
The Assemblyman, Hon. Ananpansah Abraham said the extent of destruction of the road by tipper trucks and dozers used to convey gravel from the gravel pit in the area was disheartening and that, he was brokenhearted to see the Canteen-to-Settlement road which was in a very good shape and motorable, suddenly turn into a sandy and dusty path due to the gravel digging activities which is posing economic and health risk to residents.
According to the Assemblyman, the community is currently not benefiting anything from these contractors and individuals who come to excavate gravel from the area as a corporate social responsibility, stressing that, “I daresay these people don’t even pay revenue to the assembly for road maintenance and were acting in bad faith”.
Hon. Ananpansah said these contractors and individuals have failed in their several promises to reshape the road after the several community complaints laid to them and stakeholders on the need to maintain the very road they were plying with their heavy duty trucks to harvest gravel from the area.
The Assemblyman therefore appealed to the department of feeder roads and all the necessary stakeholders to come to the aid of the community, hinting that his office together with the community have resolved to present a letter to the Department of Feeder roads and to all the concerned stakeholders reiterating the need to work on the road.
In the interim, he said there will be a community bye law barring any individual or group of persons from excavating gravel from the area untill the road is reshaped.
The community chief, Seidu Iddrisu on behalf of community members appealed to government to intervene in reshaping the road wondering why those fetching gravel from area have turned death ears to the the several complaints of the people.
He said the community was ready to place a temporal ban on the fetching of gravel from the area, commending the Assemblyman for the area for always responding promptly to their concerns.
The community caretaker, Mr Joseph Yidane on his side expressed fear for they the farmers in the area ahead of the raining season with the current state of the road.
He said the health and lives of the residents is at risk if nothing is done about the situation, stressing on the numerous times the community together with the Assemblyman have called on stakeholders and the individuals fetching gravel from the area to consider fixing the very road they had destroyed.
The women and youth present at the meeting added their voice to the need to reshape the road, stating that in the event of an emergency, it will be very difficult for an ambulance to get to the community with ease.
They said they were contemplating a demonstration to register their displeasure over the destruction of the road network which use to be one of the best feeder road in the municipality.
Source:padfm.com.gh / Kumatey Gorden
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