By Samuel Ayammah
Residents of Gozesi and Kpalore Electoral Areas in the Bawku Municipality of the Upper East Region are appealing to the government through the Bawku Municipal Assembly and the Member of Parliament for the area to as matter of urgency construct the 2 bridges that connects them to the Bawku Township and Garu.
The residents of Gozesi Electoral Area in the Bawku Municipality are predominantly farmers with a population of about 3,000 people.
Construction of the 2 bridges that connect residents of Zabugu, Kuka, Asikiri and Kolpieng in the electoral area to Bawku Township and Garu started more than a decade ago but had been abandoned. Residents in the town are often cut-off from their neighboring communities during the rainy season.
According to residents, they have been voting over the years but efforts to get the MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, to assist in the construction of the bridges have not been successful.
They said the MP brought the Contractor on site during the 2020 elections but the contractor left the site after the elections. Residents then mobilized some funds and constructed a footpath on the uncompleted construction of the bridge to enable residents to have access to a health care, education and market in Bawku.
Speaking with GBC News, a resident of Gozesi, Akuka Mohammed Zakari, said the deplorable road network is affecting healthcare delivery, education and their economic activities.
Yahaya Dawuda who is also a resident of Gozesi said many people have lost their lives at the bridges in an attempt to cross the river during the rainy season.
Another resident of Kpalore, Daniel Issifu, said aside from the bad nature of roads, the community lacks almost all the basic social amenities.
Almost all the culverts and bridges that were washed away by floods caused by torrential rains more than a decade ago in the Bawku Municipality are still in the same state.
