Regional Minister prevents demo and assures of attention on ‘Sogakope bridge’
A planned demonstration by residents and drivers over the state of the Lower Volta Bridge (Sogakope Bridge) was averted following an intervention by the Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, as he assured the people that the bridge would be fixed.
The Sogakope Bridge in the South Tongu District in the Volta Region has developed visible challenges on its expansion joints recently.
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The protest was to force authorities to act to save any potential threats posed by the defects.
Following the development, the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) has assured the people of Sogakope and users of the Sogakope Bridge that the expansion joints would be covered with bitumen in a temporary measure from October 1 to October 10, 2019.
The Director of Bridges of the GHA, Mr Yaqub Koray, said work on the bridge had been awarded on contract since December last year. That contract expired in August this year, with the contractor yet to tackle the job.
Mr Koray indicated that the contractor had pleaded for more time to mobilise to move to site.
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The demo
The protests, being championed by a group under the tag “#Fix the lower Volta Bridge now campaign", had been scheduled for last Thursday in Sogakope to demand that the bridge be fixed.
However, a timely call on the regional minister by the Director of Bridges of the GHA and his team who were in the region to assess another weak bridge at Akrofu in Ho provided an auspicious platform to engage the campaigners.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council, Mr Forster Huno, who briefed the Daily Graphic on the outcome of the meeting, said the GHA would ensure that the temporary measure was carried out as planned.
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Accidents
The PRO said Dr Letsa had indicated that motor accidents, which were attributed to the faulty bridge, were preventable situations if motorists, particularly, motorcycle riders, had exercised some caution.
He, therefore, entreated the leaders to embark on a sensitisation drive on road safety in order to halt the road incidents.
The regional minister also commended assembly members in the area for their self help initiatives to clear the bridge of soil that gave life to weeds.
The leaders of the group — George Kwesi Asafo, Mr Yao Amekor, Mr Kanghla Blasu, Mr Joe Kove-Yaw and Ms Gladys Afetsi — expressed optimism that the assurances made at the meeting would be followed through.
The Daily Graphic publication of September 16, 2019 drew attention to the bridge gradually developing into a death trap following the fast deterioration of the expansion and contraction joints on the bridge.
Motorists, especially motorbike riders (Okada), face grave danger as the rubber insulators covering the metals have eaten away and exposed the metals to the elements of weather leading to wear and tear.
The situation has left the surface of the bridge uneven and thus created the tendency for motorists to avoid depressions on the bridge which sometimes lead to accidents in spite of road signs on each side of the bridge warning drivers of the poor road surface and for them to slow down.