Regional News of Thursday, 13 September 2018

Source: dailyguideafrica.com

Farmers cry over destruction of farm produce

The abandoned farm produce on the eastern corridor road The abandoned farm produce on the eastern corridor road

Farmers in the Northern Region have lamented bitterly about the rate at which their produce get spoilt and wasted at the various farms due to the bad nature of roads in the region.

Earlier, a diesel man truck loaded with yams with registration no. BA 93 P, which was travelling from Bimbilla to Kumasi, capsized after getting stuck in the uncompleted muddy eastern corridor road stretch linking Bimbilla to Tamale.

The heavy rains and spillage from the Bagre dam have washed away a greater portion of the road, creating potholes in them. As a result, the roads have become unmotorable.

Communities such as Bimbilla, Saboba and Chereponi have all been seriously affected by the rains, making living conditions unbearable for residents.

Farmers in these areas who spoke to DAILY GUIDE revealed that they had lost their livelihood to the rains and the Bagre dam spillage as well as the bad roads in the area.

Drivers using the eastern corridor road have lamented bitterly about the bad nature of the road.

According to them, due to the bad nature of the road, their vehicles keep breaking down and they spend so much money fixing them.

They indicated that they had to use other alternative roads because most of the roads have been affected by the heavy downpour.

Meanwhile, the contractor working on the eastern corridor stretch has aborted constructions due to lack of funds.

It is estimated that over 8,000 people in the Northern Region have been badly displaced due to the spillage and heavy downpour.

Pupils can no longer go to school; farmers have lost their farms while buildings and property have been destroyed.

So far, five deaths have been recorded including a pregnant woman and a four-year-old girl. Besides, property and farm produce amounting to thousands of cedis have been lost.

The affected people are calling on government, NGOs, philanthropists and concerned individuals to come to their aid.