A journey on the patched road from Hohoe to Jasikan
A story is told of an itinerant driver on the Hohoe-Jasikan road who drove into a distressed vehicle loaded with yams from Kpassa in the Nkwanta-North district of the Volta Region. He was heading towards marketing centres in Accra.
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The driver of the vehicle was so frustrated as a result of the breakdown of his vehicle along the route that, out of desperation, he offered the yams out at a very low price to other travellers along the route.
According to the driver, he sold 10 tubers of yam for GH¢10 instead of the prevailing average price of three tubers for GH¢10.
Indeed, this was a windfall to travellers on the Hohoe-Jasikan road on that day.
On the other hand, it was a total loss for the owner of the yams.
Implications to business
Several businesses in the northern sector of the Volta Region have suffered similar fates due to the poor road network leading to the north, particularly through the stretch from Kpeve through Hohoe to Jasikan.
In fact, the road has remained unattractive to motorists from time immemorial and that has remained an ordeal for residents of the northern Volta Region over the years.
The people of the area have for a very long time agitated for the situation to be reversed.
Action of successive governments
The people have cried to successive governments for remedial action, but certain remedies provided never stood the test of time. The road is the arterial road for the conveyance of foodstuffs and timber from the hinterland to the south.
It is on the same route that cement, fuel, and other bulky products are delivered to the people in the north.
It is the shortest route from the south to the north and vice versa because it is shorter by 70 kilometres compared to using the Kumasi route.
Myriad of potholes and estuaries on road
For now, it is very dangerous to drive on the road because a cluster of potholes has developed from Tafi, through Nyagbo, Logba, Ve , Gbi, Santrokofi, Akpafu and Bowiri to Jasikan.
The potholes are like stars in the sky. Vehicles manoeuvre their way through them to the extent that even bicycle riders overtake them on the way.
On a rainy day, bodies of water are created at the junctions leading to Santrokofi-Gbodome, Akpafu-Mempeasem, Akpafu-Odomi and Bowiri –Amanfrom and driving is made more dangerous because the potholes on the road are concealed with water.
Effect of logging
What has perhaps aggravated the condition is the invasion of the area by loggers who use heavy duty vehicles to convey big logs to their sawmills at Hohoe and Jasikan. This has deepened the potholes.
Apart from that, certain portions of the road have been eroded at the sides, reducing the road to a single lane that requires extra care to ply. Examples of such stretches are at Ve-Gbodome and Akrofu.
The road must be seriously re-engineered, taking into recognition the soil nature to forestall the frequent development of potholes .
Eastern corridor
This part of the road is often described as the “Eastern Corridor” road whose construction has been earmarked as a political agenda to be prosecuted by the 2016 election date.
Politicians, both at the regional and national levels, continue to be optimistic that the promise to the people will be fulfilled before the deadline, but as the years go by, the people are increasingly getting worried because the government is still looking for foreign funding to start the project.
As for funding by Government of Ghana (GoG), there seems to be little hope because works on lots on the Eastern Corridor from Asikuma through Peki, Have, and Kpassa to Damanko are progressing at a snail’s pace because they are being funded by the government. However, works on the lot from Nkwanta through Brewaniase to Dodo-Pepesu were progressing at a more satisfactory and faster rate and it is hoped that it will be completed by December this year because it is being funded with an European Union (EU) grant obtained in 2007.
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Public opinion
A distressed driver, Razak Kwesi, in an outburst of frustration, remarked that “the road no good kuraa” meaning the road is not good at all. This was after he had spent two nights on the road with a load of yams due to the bad nature of the road.
A member of the Jasikan branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Baba Musa, also shared a very sad sentiment on the bad condition of the road, saying the ‘big men’ came to the area with good cars and air planes and so they didn’t feel the pinch of the deterioration.
He said they always promised to bring in a contractor to fix the road but that promise was yet to be redeemed.
In fact, many chats with the public revealed that the people were getting disappointed, but that should not be the basis to rush into undertaking the project because it could be a recipe for shoddy work.
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Initiatives so far
Recently, a consortium comprising investors from Canada, Ghana, France and Korea, known as ARSO International, arrived in the Volta Region to inspect the road with the promise to return within three months to pre-finance the construction of the road. Three months have elapsed and it is yet to show up.