Danger looms as delay in construction works pose threat
The lives of pupils of Nandy’s International School at Kwashibu in Accra, are at risk as ongoing road works in front of the school have led to the creation of a huge culvert with just a wobbling wooden bridge serving as the main entrance to the school.
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Pupils, therefore, have to walk slowly and steadily on the weak bridge to prevent them from falling into the gutter which is filled with garbage.
Indeed, the gutter also poses a health risk to pupils as it serves as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other harmful insects.
When the Junior Graphic visited the site, the Proprietor of the school, Mr Issah Alhassan, said the contractors were currently on a three-week break.
He said because there was no work being done at the time, the school was erecting a wall to protect the premises from floods as the rainy season had begun.
Mr Alhassan explained that the Ga Central Municipal Assembly was handling the project which started in November last year.
“The assembly promised that the works would be completed in eight weeks but as you can see, work has still not been completed and it has been six months since,’’ he said.
He said the makeshift bridge the schoolchildren used to get to the school sometimes broke down when the area got flooded so the pupils often had to find an alternate route to the school.
‘’I must admit that the children are not happy with this development and some parents have withdrawn their wards from the school due to the looming danger,’’ he said.
Mr Alhassan said the school’s administration was concerned about the problem and was doing its best to ensure that the project was completed as early as possible.
In an interview with the Head of the Urban Roads Department of the Ga Central Municipal Assembly, Mr Alexander Dordor, he explained that the delay in construction works was due to “building technicalities”.
He said due to the rains, the concrete structure did not dry up early as it often took approximately 21 days for concrete to dry completely to enable the continuation of construction works.
According to him, most of the items needed for construction were also not on site and, therefore, the contractors had to go to the storage facility to bring them to the site anytime these materials were needed.
‘’All these are part of challenges which are causing the delay in construction but the department is doing its best to see to the early completion of the road works,’’ he said.
Responding to a question on the danger posed to the children due to the delay, Mr Dordor explained that the department was doing its best to speed up the construction since they were aware of the problem.
However, it appeared that the department did not know that the contractors had gone on a three-week break as Mr Dordor did not have any idea about that.
When we visited the school again after a rainstorm on an early Monday morning, the makeshift bridge had broken down and had been taken off completely.
Therefore, the pupils had to use a different route in a neighbouring town (Santa Maria) to get to school.
According to some members of the community, the construction works had brought a lot of inconvenience to the neighbourhood. They also alleged that the project had been abandoned due to financial reasons.
They said anytime it rains, the situation gets worse since the area becomes flooded and the gutter gets filled with rubbish.
A Class Four pupil of the school, Ekow Amuakwa Baah, said he was always scared anytime it rained and he had to go to school.
‘’I could not go to school today due to the rain because the place always gets flooded,’’ he said.
‘’I know the school has constructed a bridge our gutter but I do not think that is even helpful as my friends also get scared and complain about this problem,’’ he added.
