Correspondence from Upper East:

Yesterday’s heavy rains have flooded portions of the Navrongo-Kologo-Naaga road in the Kassena-Municipality, worsening the already deplorable 21km road.

This road was captured under the government’s achievements tracker as a completed road project.

The situation has cut off communities in Kologo and Naaga from the rest of the municipality, as residents can neither cross home nor to Navrongo township.

Residents, who have no choice but to cross either have to brave the waist-knee-deep water or be assisted by some village folks who have pitched camp close by, assisting people at a fee.

The floodwaters are particularly high at Awinchokum, where a bridge being constructed by the government is not near completion. The uncompleted bridge has also not been spared the soak.

When GhanaWeb visited the flooded portions, commuters could be seen carrying their stressful belongings on their heads as they waded through the water.

Construction machines, including a concrete mixer, obviously being used for the bridge construction was almost buried by the floodwater.

Several acres of rice farms sited on both sides of the road had also been submerged by the water. Owners of the farms could be heard praying for the water to recede to save their crops.

A teacher, who pleaded anonymity told GhanaWeb he arrived at the place as he made his way to school only to realize he could not proceed. He said he knew the road had been given to a contractor for work to begin, hence was not his expectation to see portions of the stretch flooded.

“I was going to complete some documents at school but then when I got there, the place was flooded and the supposedly completed road was not completed. So, I couldn’t cross to continue the journey. Other people who wanted to cross faced the same challenge. People paid to be assisted to cross but I didn’t take money with me so I had to return”.

The issue of floods on the road is not the first time to be reported by GhanaWeb. Earlier this year, GhanaWeb’s Correspondent Senyalah Castro, before the onset of the rain season, reported the deplorable nature of the road and calls by residents to fix it to avert floods.

In the reports, residents said additional culverts, especially at Awinchokum and near the Tindaango Dam, were integral in preventing the buildup of rainwater at the flood-prone sections which destroyed farms and hindered the transportation of people and goods.

Residents complained that the perennial flooding was due to the deplorable nature of the road which did not have drains and culverts.

They said though reports had it that the road had been given out to a contractor for the commencement of work, nothing of such was seen.

The report caused authorities to get the contractor to work immediately. But even with the presence of the contractor on the road, residents say very little development has been seen.

“I don’t even know what the contractor is doing here excepts creating more holes on the road. Just look at this place where the ground was hard but the contractor has cleared the hard ground and now it becomes muddy when it rains and we can’t travel. He is not also working hard enough to tar it”. Joe who is resident in Naaga complained.

The flood incident has awakened calls by residents for the road to be improved as residents believe the first flooding is the beginning of more to come.