Residents of Mamime and Lawoshime in the Keta Municipality of the Volta Region are appealing to the government to replace a wooden foot bridge over Ladzorbui River that has become a death trap with a concrete bridge.
According to the residents, they have to carry pregnant women in labour on a specially made wooden structure to cross the two wooden bridges, and also walk three kilometres to the next town before they could access health care.
And in most cases they said some of the pregnant women died on the way before reaching health care facilities.
Mr Festus Keku, Unit Committee Member of Mamime, who spoke to the Ghanaian Times in an interview during a visit to the community said “the place is a farming community and this situation has been with them for decades.”
He said politicians came to them every four years to campaign for their votes yet nothing had been done to address their plight.
“As l speak to you, there is no electricity in the area and teachers refuse postings to the area,” he stressed.
That, Mr Keku said, was affecting teaching and learning in those communities.
“We have complained to the authorities to come to our aid but nothing concrete has been done,” Mr Keku stated.
When the Keta Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Emmanuel Gemega, was contacted, he assured that work would soon start on the bridges, saying that he wanted to leave a mark before his tenure of office ended.
The MCE said he was aware of the plight of the residents and admitted that inadequate infrastructure was hindering their movement.
He added that the poor road network was also negatively impeding economic activities in those communitiesas residents had difficulty in transporting their farm produce to other communities for sale.
Mr Gemega expressed worry over the wooden foot bridge, which he said was dangerous, adding that the problem could only be solved if a new bridge was constructed, and the road network issues tackled.
FROM KAFUIGATI, LAWOSHIME
