Correspondence from Bono Region

Residents of Mpatase a suburb of Berekum in the Berekum East Municipality of the Bono Region have expressed concern over the refusal of authorities to construct the Berekum-Mpatase road.

According to the worried residents, the once bustling route connecting the area from the main Berekum township to Mpatase now stands riddled with potholes making navigation on the road by commuters dangerous and difficult.

The residents contend that journeying from Berekum to Mpatase which should usually take between ten to fifteen minutes now takes up to 45 minutes because of how deplorable the road is.

On top of this predicament is the difficulty in getting reliable transport to the community because of the refusal of many drivers to ply the road, especially in the evening due to its terrible nature.

Madam Georgina Gyau, a businesswoman at Mpatase disclosed that there have been many instances she had had difficulties getting vehicles to cart her goods to her shop.

“Because of how terrible the road is, I mostly find it difficult getting vehicles to transport my items to my shop because drivers refuse to come here”.
Speaking to GhanaWeb, the Assembly Member for the Mpatase Electoral Area, Kyereh Gabriel, bemoaned that the continued neglect of the road is negatively impacting the community.

“The people in Mpatase have been neglected for far too long when it comes to our road which is in a deplorable state and this is negatively impacting the community in every sphere”.

He lamented that the situation also affects the response time of emergency service providers as they struggle to reach the community on time and want the authorities to give the road a facelift.

“Where there is a fire outbreak or someone is sick, emergency service providers find it difficult to reach the community on time so I am appealing on behalf of the people who I represent to the authorities to give the road a facelift”.