Dalun (N/R), Nov 21, GNA – Thousands of residents of Dalun at the weekend embarked on a demonstration to demand the completion of the about 10-kilometre Nawuni-Dalun-Kumbungu Road.
The residents, clad in red shirts, carried placards with various inscriptions, including “No Road, No Vote, Fix our road, we deserve better.”
They walked from Dalun to Kings Medical Village Junction, a distance of about six kilometres, to present a petition to the Kumbungu District Assembly, demanding that the road be fixed urgently.
The demonstration was organised by the Dalun Youth Association and its Chairman, Mr Mahama Safianu, who presented the petition to an official of the Kumbungu District Assembly, for onward presentation to President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Ahead of the 2020 general election, a contractor was mobilised to start construction works on the Nawuni – Dalun -Kumbungu Road.
However, immediately after the elections, construction works on the road stopped and the contractor vacated the site.
The petition underscored the contribution of the Nawuni-Dalun- Kumbungu Road to the economic development of the Kumbungu District Assembly.
“Dalun is the largest contributor of internally generated funds through sand winning along the White Volta. A good road will increase the revenue in astronomical numbers.”
It added that “Dalun and Nawuni are home to both headworks and intake works of the Ghana Water Company Limited that supplies water to Tamale, Sagnarigu, Kumbungu, Tolon and Savelugu Assemblies. An access road will make transportation of chemicals to the plant easier and cheaper.”
It said, “Over 60 per cent of sea sand to the Northern Region is transported through Dalun Road and it worsens the already bad road every single day.
The petition spoke about the nature of the road, saying, “The dust emanating from the excessive use of the road by tipper trucks and other vehicles is the cause of air pollution that leaves many people ill with respiratory disease.”
It said, “We, therefore, call on you to as a matter of urgency to return the contractor to work to construct the road in fulfilment of numerous pledges made by your government to the chiefs and people of the area.”
“It is our hope that our plea will not fall on deaf ears as we shall continue to demonstrate until our road is finally fixed.”
Mr Mohammed Kamal Baba, an Assistant Director at the Kumbungu District Assembly, who received the petition on behalf of the District Chief Executive for the area, said the Assembly had hoped that the road would have been constructed by now.
He promised to submit the petition to the appropriate authorities.
GNA