play videoThe Bolgatanga-Zuarungu road is in a terrible condition. File photo
Correspondence from Upper East Region
The Bolgatanga-Zuarungu road has been marked as a hotspot for road accidents. The accidents happen at the uncompleted portion of the road which is untarred and with potholes.
According to eyewitnesses, the accidents happen because drivers, when plying the road, speed because the road is all smooth and so by the time they get
Read full articleto the untarred portion, they collide with vehicles coming from the opposite direction.
Some 'can do' (tricycle) drivers, who use that stretch, shared their experiences with GhanaWeb's Upper East Regional correspondent, Sarah Dubure.
Godfred Nyaaba, indicated that the spot is dangerous adding that many lives had been lost there through road accidents.
"In fact that particular place, you cannot say it is good. Just image how people die because of that simple place?" he quizzed.
Another Ovando Ndibo, lamented that there were a lot of potholes on the uncompleted portion of the road. He also gave an eyewitness account of an accident that happened on the stretch.
"The day before yesterday, I loaded and I was going to Zuarungu. When I reached there,(the uncompleted portion of the road), there was an accident. It was 2 motors that had crushed. One of the victim was sent to the hospital," he recounted.
He noted that a lot of lives on the Bolgatanga-Zuarungu road. A situation, that has affected residents, he therefore called for support.
"All the communities are worried, because so many deaths have been recorded over here. What I can say about that road is that it is in a terrible state. So they should look at it and see what they can do so that we will be free," he added.
Another 'can do' driver, Tia Richard added that as they have drifted into the rainy season, the roads have become worse.
"They have started the road, they haven't completed it. They have done it to a certain point, and have abandoned the project. They know that during the rainy season the road is always bad," he said.
He noted that they were more careful on the road, but the buses were the ones always causing the accidents, due to overspeeding.
"We the 'can do' drivers, we are really taking our time, but the Bawku Express is always causing a lot of accidents on the road; the way they overspeed. They haven't completed the road but they are overspeeding too much. As for the road, a lot of accidents have here," He revealed.
Another driver by the name Solo noted that the accidents were happening because people drove on the constructed side on the road at top speed, and because there is no caution to indicate that there is an uncompleted portion ahead, they speed all through, and by the time they get to the uncompleted area, an accident might have occurred.
He recounted the sad incident of how he once picked a pregnant woman who was due for delivery but due to the bad nature of the road they delayed causing complications for the mother.
"There was one time I picked a pregnant woman who was in labour, it was an emergency. When I got to that portion of the road, how bumpy the road was, I felt pity for the woman. I had to go the little way I can because the woman was in labour. I couldn't move fast, the road was very bad. She was in so much pain. The bumpy road was even adding more pain," he recalled.
