By Dennis Peprah
Daboya (S/R), April 6, GNA – Commuters and traders are at risk in their daily crossing of the White Volta River from Daboya in the Savannah Region to Tolon in the Northern Region to transact businesses without wearing life jackets.
The residents and commuters, including children, often cross the river with “small canoes,” which often over-load passengers with other items like motorbikes, disregarding safety protocols.
During a visit to the river side at Daboya in the North Gonja District, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) gathered from the traders that passengers who were natives of the area paid GHS5.00 for a trip, while non-natives were charged GHS10.00.
The passengers spent between 10 and 20 minutes crossing the river from both sides.
Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, a politician and resident at Daboya, told the GNA in an interview that most of the women traders in the district preferred using the canoe to cross the river to the other side, despite the dangers associated with the trip.
He explained that it was because traveling to the Tamale metropolis from Daboya was closer when one crossed the river to the Tolon district and continued the journey from there.
It takes about 30 minutes to drive to Tamale when you cross the river from Daboya to Tolon, but the same trip by land could take more than four hours, Mr Ibrahim said.
He described the situation as worrying and appealed to the government to provide the people with life jackets before “anything disastrous happens.”
Madam Amina Ibrahim, a trader, said crossing the river with the canoe without protective wear was always fearful and worrying, but “we don’t have any other option.”
One of the canoe owners, who spoke to the GNA on condition of anonymity, said, “we know the lives of the commuters are threatened whenever they are on the river, but what can we do?”
Meanwhile, the canoe owners have set up a rescue team, which is always on standby to attend to emergencies or any disaster that might happen on the river.
At least six people drowned in 2014 after a canoe on which they were traveling capsized in the Daboya White Volta River, and a similar disaster in 2016 claimed the lives of three teenagers, with three other persons drowning in 2017, although four of the passengers involved in that disaster were rescued.
Subsequently, the government in 2017 announced the construction of a bridge over the White Volta at Daboya to link the Northern Region to the Savannah Region.
GNA