Dunkonah-Bortianor township roads in deplorable state

Deplorable roads in the Dunkonah-Bortianor township in the Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro Constituency of the Ga South Municipality have left residents demanding immediate action.

The six-kilometre road that stretches from the West Hills Mall Junction to Dunkonah has been left unattended to for many years, with it becoming increasingly impassable.

The best improvement residents have seen is the dressing of the surface of the road, which has reached its limit and cannot be continued.

It has, thus, been left dusty and rough, and a visit to the township on Saturday, August 17, 2019 saw both residents and road users expressing their displeasure about the terrible nature of the road.

Experiences from residents

A welder, Mr Dankyi Boamah, who resides at the Red Top community at Dunkonah, said the road had been in that bad state for the past 20 years that he had lived in the area.

“The road, due to its rocky and dusty nature, poses health risks to us because we have our shops at the roadside and suffer the daily plight of inhaling dust.

“When I go to town to buy materials, I end up paying more for transportation because the drivers are always hesitant when you tell them you are going to Red Top.

You either pay more or they leave you to your fate,” he said.

Mr Richard Mensah, an auto-mechanic, said residents had complained several times to authorities but to no avail.

He explained that he always repaired most vehicles in the area when they broke down and though that was his daily means of survival, he shared in the grievances of the drivers.

“When I buy new vehicle parts for my customers, their vehicles break down quickly again due to how terrible the road is.

“I recently bought new shock absorbers for my taxi and had to instruct my driver to park the car because I cannot keep on spending all my earnings on spare parts,” he added.

He said any driver that came to his shop complained bitterly about the numerous times they had to pay for the services of a mechanic.

Drivers

An executive of the Tambore Dunkonah Taxi Union, Mr Ebenezer Sintim, appealed to the government to, as a matter of urgency, rehabilitate the road “as we are really suffering”.

He also indicated that past members of Parliament had reneged on the numerous promises to fix the road.

“Since they have deliberately decided to deceive us all the time, the only option we have now is to stage a demonstration, and that is in the offing,” he said.

Assurance from assemblyman

Speaking to the Assemblyman for the Akwasa Electoral Area, where Dunkonah is located, Mr Maxwell Yaw Atampuri, he said he was very confident the construction of the roads would start soon.

According to him, hopefully, the road that starts from behind the West Hills Mall through Dunkonah Red Top to Papa Ajasco will receive some facelift by next month.

“This road links Kokrobite to Bortianor and will be a fully asphalted road with drainage systems in place,” he stated.

He said temporarily, he brought earth-moving equipment to clear the rocky surface of the roads to ease vehicular movement, but admitted that it was not enough.

Mr Atampuri assured residents that the road was a priority to the assembly and they were working hard to provide a lasting solution to the issue.