Heavy rains in Wa West cut off 19 communities

PResidents of Dabo Electoral Area have been cut off from the rest of the Wa West District in the Upper West Region due to heavy rains.

 The road from Dabo to Dorimon and subsequently to Wa has been rendered inaccessible by the torrential rains which also resulted in the Kolle River overflowing its banks.

The period presents a difficult situation to residents of the electoral area with 19 communities as they would face challenges accessing neighbouring towns for healthcare and other services.

Recounting the difficulties they went through to the Ghanaian Times at Dabo on Sunday, a resident, Mr Daniel Dery who was specialised in helping people cross the river, said motorists who sought to travel with their motorcycles had to get people to carry their motorcycles across while they walked through the rain waters on foot.

“Someone who is quite short will need help in order to cross the river because the person would be submerged in the water depending on the level of the water at the time. There are some who come here and the water goes above their chest, especially if it had just rained, and they have to be carried across to avoid possible drowning, we need to carry them across,” he said.

Mr Dery said vehicles were not able to cross the river when it got deeper after a downpour. 

Speaking with the Assembly Member for the area, Mr Barnabas Gaazienye in an interview, he indicated that the issue had become perennial and was really affecting lives of residents, as it impeded not only movement outside Dabo but also within the electoral area.

“We have only one Community Health Planning System (CHPS) compound in the whole electoral area, it therefore becomes difficult for the communities across the river to cross over for healthcare.

 “Last week for instance, a sick person was carried shoulder high across the water to seek healthcare at Wa,” he explained, and added that, the men who did the conveying were mostly people with good height in order not to drown.

“There have been instances where lives have been lost at this place, and still fresh in memory were two people who drowned here about a year ago. Just last week, a team from a non-governmental organisation, who were coming to the area to make slabs towards the drilling of a borehole for us, lost their tools in the water when they were trying to cross to the other side with their vehicle,” he lamented.

Mr Gaazienye said they had written to the various district chief executives over the years as well as the Feeder Roads in the region for help, and had backed their claims with videos as requested by the Feeder Roads, yet no action had been taken since last year when they sent the videos to them.

FROM LYDIA DARLINGTON FORDJOUR, DABO