Correspondence from Upper East:

Residents of Paga Buru-Navio, a community in the Kasena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region have appealed to authorities to swiftly renovate a steel bridge in the area to save it from collapse.

The bridge, which is a major link connecting the Paga area to Sirigu and Manyoro in the Kasena-Nankana Municipality has not received any revamp since its construction, needing urgent attention to improve its deplorable state.

The structure has been rendered weak as many of the bolts and nuts that have fastened the pieces of metals together have fallen off, making it lose its alignment.

Parts of the metallic bridge that have also been damaged by vehicles and needing urgent replacement have been unattended to, threating the structure and exposing the lives of users to danger.

Aside the numerous defects, another major threat that may shorten the bridge’s lifespan is that the earth beneath the concrete pillars holding it in place has gradually to a large extent been washed away by rainwater.

The residents who are concerned about their safety and that of other users say they have informed authorities about the poor nature of the bridge but nothing has been done about the situation.

They said the bridge is sitting on a time bomb and would collapse if action is not taken before the onset of the rainy season.

One of the residents who gave his name as Kweku in an interview with GhanaWeb's Senyalah Castro said “we have fears whenever we use the bridge in the rainy season”.

He added that “this road is a major road that leads to a lot of communities including neighbouring Burkina Faso and if authorities don’t work on the defects, it will negatively affect trade, farming and other business activities”.

Martha, a trader who goes into villages in the area to buy fresh pepper and has been using the route for years complained about the poor nature of the road. She said the road and steel bridge play a major role in her trade activities but their deplorable state was not helping her any better.



She said she has fears whenever she approaches the bridge with her goods. She called on authorities to speedily work on the Paga- Manyoro- Sirigu road and give special attention to the steel bridge ahead of the rains.

“I buy fresh pepper from the villages round so if the government can help us by doing this road for us it will help us. Whenever it rains and we reach the bridge with our goods, we are always afraid because we don’t know what will happen”. She said.

In the latter part of last year, the Chief and people of Buru- Navio took to the street to protest its deplorable state and that of the steel bridge.

The Navio-Pio, Pe Adams Kwarase Asongojem Parijei II, who led the peaceful demonstration appealed to the government to take urgent steps to construct the road to save his people from needless accidents and the respiratory-problem-causing thick dust.



He said the bad nature of the road was not opening up the area to growth and development, as teachers, nurses and other professionals refused postings there.

Their protests were heeded to and work on the construction of culverts and spot improvement has begun. It is also gathered that the road has been given on contract and work would soon begin.

But residents doubt that work would begin early and want special attention to be given to the steel bridge. They want it renovated before the rains come or they will boycott the 2020 election.