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Commuters were left stranded for several hours on Monday morning in Sunyani as youths in Kotokrom and Yawhima blocked a section of Sunyani -Techiman highway to prevent transporters from transporting passengers from Sunyani in a protest over the deplorable state of the road.
Some residents of two suburbs in Sunyani in the Sunyani East Municipality of the Bono Region embarked on a demonstration to express their displeasure about the condition of the Sunyani-Techiman highway, especially the Kotokrom-Yawhima enclave.
According to the youths, the poor nature of the road has made life unbearable for them and affecting their health and businesses.
President Akufo-Addo in September, 2020, re-awarded the construction of road that the then Mills administration started in 2012 but failed to complete by extending it to Yawhima. The 15 km road has been abandoned for almost seven months without knowing the whereabouts of the contractor.
Speaking to the press, Conveners and Tripper Truck Driver, Isaac Kumi Boateng, attributed “rampant” accidents in the area to the terrible state of their roads.
“A lot of accidents are happening on the road. Now, the pathetic thing is, if somebody buys a new car, it becomes very difficult for the person to even use it on the road because if you use it for a week, the car will break down. Drivers are suffering too much, we spend much of our sales on maintenance,” a driver said.
The residents who talked for almost four hours from Yawhima to the Regional Coordinating Council to present their petition to the Bono Regional Minister urged that despite numerous assurances by successive governments, the road has remained in a deplorable state.
“We also want our fair share of the national cake. We are frustrated about the dusty nature of the road. All the politicians have not been able to fulfill their promises by ensuring that the road is fixed. All that we want is to see the contractor back on the road and fix it as soon as possible.”
They have vowed to embark on more protests to compel authorities to fix the road since they say the situation is making life unbearable for them.
Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu Banahene, receiving the petition commended the youths for their peaceful protest and promised to forward it to the appropriate authority and see to it the contractor return to the site and completes the work as soon as possible.
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