By Laudia Sawer
Dawhenya, July 24, GNA – Some residents of Dawhenya staying along the Dawhenya-Afienya trunk road have expressed worry over the loss of businesses due to the deplorable and dusty nature of the road.
The 7.2-kilometre road links the Ningo-Prampram District and other communities on the Tema-Aflao highway to Shai-Osudoku and the Tema-Akosombo highway.
According to residents, due to the dusty nature of the road, most of them had to stop trading along the road, while those with shops had to shut down as their wares become dusty, making it unattractive for people to buy.
Mr Moses Kutor, Assembly Member for North Dawhenya, speaking to the Ghana News Agency on the road issue, said it was very worrying as many residents in his area have complained of their inability to continue with their work along the stretch, leaving them unemployed.
Mr Kutor said the delay in fixing the road was a big challenge for the people, stating that the driver’s association plying the road has appealed to the Ningo-Prampram District Assembly through assembly members to periodically grade the road for easy driving.
He said due to the bad nature of the road, which has developed several gullies, the drivers complain of low sales, resulting in their inability to pay the daily toll to the assembly, which often results in misunderstandings between them and revenue collectors.
“It has become a headache; a lot of people who used to sell along the stretch are now out of business; they are not able to sell because the dust on the road is just too much; it pollutes their food, and people don’t buy, so, at the end of the day, they run at a loss; the motivation to sell is therefore not there,” he said.
He noted that this has become a burden on the people because they are not able to provide for their families and brings about a lot of thieveries as the economic activity in the area is not booming.
Touching on the effect of the road on a district market opened along the stretch, he said the market was not achieving its intended purpose of boosting trading activities while providing convenience for residents to buy their food without having to travel to Tema or Ashiaman.
He said the market, which used to be a point for affordable food stuff, had lost its appeal as traders from surrounding communities and other districts who used to bring their wares there were no longer selling there.
He said instead of enduring a journey on a dusty and bumpy Dahwenya-Afienya road, the traders from Ada and its environs prefer to travel to Ashaiman, Tema, and Kpone to sell their wares.
The Dawhenya-Afienya road, which currently has a steel bridge over a waterbody posing as a death trap to road users, is the only road tipper truck drivers use to cart building materials such as laterite, quarry dust, and stones.
Despite several agitations and demonstrations embarked on by residents and drivers to express their worry, it has been left unfixed for many years, even though in July 2021, the government awarded a contract on it to CYMAIN Limited for the resumption of work.
In May 2022, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta, Minister for Roads and Highways, after touring the road, commended the contractor for a good job and gave the assurance that he would support the company to ensure its completion, stating that, “I know within a year or less, the people here will see a very significant work on the road.”
But a year later, the GNA noticed that the contractor was not on the road, and residents are yet to see a significant improvement on the road as it was deteriorating each day as it rained and heavy vehicles continued to ply it.
GNA