By Gilbert Azeem Tiroog
Zanlerigu (U/E), April 5, GNA – A broken Bridge at the Zanlerigu –Gane community is causing accidents and impeding the movement of residents and commuters along the Zanlerigu – Gundork road in the Nabdam District of the Upper East Region.
The residents said the broken bridge coupled with the deplorable road was a major threat to their lives and farmlands and appealed to the District Assembly, Non-Governmental organizations and individuals to help reconstruct the bridge.
According to them, the bridge which broke in October 2022 during the rainy season, blocked the gutter and diverted the water way into their farm lands leading to the destruction of crops and flooded portions of the Zanlerigu Market.
On March 31, 2023, two persons on a Haojue Mapuka motorbike run into the hole of the broken bridge resulting in multiple fractures.
Traders at the Zanlerigu Market said accidents of that kind were common on that stretch of the road especially with strangers passing there for the first time and feared that something worse could happen if it was left unfixed.
They also appealed for the reshaping of the narrow road to ease vehicular movement, explaining that in its current state, two vehicles heading in opposite direction could not fit in.
A visit to the bridge by the Ghana News Agency revealed that portions of it had its concrete removed, exposing iron rods with visible holes at its side ways. The gutter was also chocked with gravel and rubbers.
Mrs Azumah Yen-borrah, a trader, lamented that tricycle Riders used the broken bridge and the poor nature of the road as an excuse to charge them exorbitantly.
She said the rainy season would make the situation worst and called on the authorities to help fix the bridge.
Mr Maxwell Divom, the Assemblyman for the Zanlerigu-Dagliga Electoral area, said any further delay in the reconstruction of the bridge would worsen the plight of travellers and called for immediate action by the Assembly
He said he had officially written to the District Assembly about the broken bridge but was yet to receive a favorable response.
Madam Agnes Anamoo, the District Chief Executive, said the Assembly was informed about the broken bridge that had become a hotspot of accidents in the area but there was no available money at the moment to reconstruct the bridge.
“The Engineer went and had an observation of it but as to when it would be worked on would depend on when funds would be available because we don’t have funds now and that is what I can tell you”, She stated.
GNA