General News of Friday, 31 August 2018

Source: 3news.com

Many stranded on Eastern Corridor road due to floods

Travellers plying the Eastern Corridor Road were left stranded on Friday play videoTravellers plying the Eastern Corridor Road were left stranded on Friday

It had been raining in the Northern Region throughout the working week and only stopped Friday morning.

The rainfall has caused the flooding of an uncompleted bridge in a community called Lipuhi, rendering the road non-motorable.

The rain literally cut off people traveling from the northern part of the country to the southern part and vice versa at Lipuhi.

The travelers, most of whom are women, said their hopes of crossing to their destinations were dashed.

Vehicles of all sizes and shapes, pulled over at both ends of the flooded area as none wanted to risk driving through the water.

The few daring ones were directed by residents who know the nooks and crannies of the affected stretch.

Female traders carrying babies said they had spent 24 hours wanting to cross to the other side.

Farm produce including tubers of yam loaded in trucks were equally left at the mercy of the weather.

Amina Abubakari is among the stranded. She arrived in Lipuli at 4:00am Thursday, August 30, and after staying for five hours was yet to cross to Wulensi, her destination.

“I am heading to Wulensi but as it stands [now] I do not know when I will cross over. We cannot go to the market again,” she lamented.

Ofori Minta, who is headed for Nkwanta in the Volta Region from Tamale said: “No passenger car can move because of rocks used in filling the pits created by the contractors. We are pleading with the government to work on this so that there can be a free flow of traffic”.

Another worried trader, Aisha, wants stakeholders to pay attention to the road construction, quizzing “how do we feed our children if we do not go to the market, please government should look our direction and fix this road”.

It is uncertain when this stranded person will cross to their destinations as that depends on the reduction of water levels on the stretch.

Watch how a loaded tractor “flew” across the river: