Kwaprow residents cry over the deplorable state of their road after collapse of bridge on Kakumdo river

Correspondence from Central Region

Residents of Kwaprow, a town in the Cape Coast Metropolis, have complained about the terrible condition of the roads in their area.

The community serves as a home for most continuing students of the University of Cape Coast.

Over 2000 people live in the community that is part of the Cape Coast North Constituency,

Read full articleprimarily farmers and traders. The primary road connecting the village to Ankaful, however, is in a terrible condition.

The Kakumdo River, which flows through Kwaprow and into adjacent communities like Duakuro, was the site of the road's construction.

Four bridges were built during the construction to allow the river to flow freely, but due to the recent high rains, three of the four bridges have been destroyed.

The road has been in poor condition for more than three years, but it got worse after the neighborhood was inundated by the recent strong rains, which washed parts of the road and left the bridges hanging.

The route has had to be closed due to the precarious condition of the bridges.

Some drivers expressed their grievances to GhanaWeb’s Central Regional Correspondent, Kpodo Dominic, when he visited the community.

Mr. Kofi Ahmed Rockson said, "I'm a driver. I pick passengers from here to Ankaful, but right now the road is not in a decent condition so we are obliged to reroute our travel through Abura and it lengthens the journey. The cost of fuel has increased, and when you charge the passengers, they complain, therefore we want the government to repair the road for us."

In a similar manner, Mr. Enoch Annan added, "We have to reroute through Abura when we get passengers going to Ankaful. They object when we charge them because, while it may seem like a little trip to them, the route change through Abura requires more fuel. We kindly want assistance from the government as a result of the high cost of fuel, which gets worse when it rains.

Mr John Kilson, the Assemblyman for the area, also spoke out against this threat to the neighborhood and begged the government for assistance.

“The bad state of the road is a big problem for us. This is the road that connects UCC to Ankaful and its environs. We are unable to use the road now. I even engaged the former Central Regional Minister, Hon. Kwamena Duncan and Director of Urban Roads at the Metropolis, but still no work has been done. Even farmers are finding it difficult to use the road therefore, we need help from the government,” he reiterated the drivers complaints.

ING. Samuel Mensah, the director of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly's Urban Roads division, acknowledged being aware of the condition of the road in a phone interview with GhanaWeb.



According to him, “Parts of the problem was caused by sand winning activities by the residents and now the situation is scary, a reason for the blocked road."

He added that "necessary measurements and other activities, but you know it must go through some procurement processes. But I can assure you that very soon the contract will be awarded for work to begin.



Lack of Public Toilet

The Assemblyman for the area, Hon. John Kilson, also shared with GhanaWeb that, the community lacks public toilet; a situation which has led to residents resorting to open defecation.