BOLGA-BAWKU ROAD CRIES FOR ATTENTION(Tuesday, September 18, 2012. Page 23)

Article: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bolgatanga Anytime I have had to make a trip to Bawku to cover an assignment, I get so furious and angry. Angry not because the programme is not worth the coverage, but because of the horrible state of the 75 kilometre stretch of road linking the Regional capital to Bawku, a major town in the Upper East Region. Not only does the route link Bolgatanga and Bawku but also connects Ghana with the Sahalian countries of Burkina-Faso, Niger, Mali and northern Togo. Being an international route, it serves as a major boost for economic activities. In all my eight years stay in the region, I have seen deterioration of the road move to worse to worst. The annual pot-hole patching works carried out by the Ghana Highway Authority have not help matters as every raining season expose the shoddiness of the work carried out. The 75 kilometre road runs though towns like Zuarungu, Kongo, Nangodi, Tilli, and Zebilla is riddled with potholes, which make it difficult for vehicles to ply the route. This has been aggravated by the recent torrential rains that hit the region. The Zuarungu-Nangode-Tilli forest route is the worst damaged section of the Bolgatanga to Bawku stretch. Some businessmen and women in a random interview with the Daily Graphic have complained that the bad state of roads is hurting trade within the region and with the Sahalian countries. Bawku and its environs is noted for the supply of onions, rice, guinea fowls and livestock to the southern parts of the country Ordinarily, a journey from Bolgatanga to Bawku is supposed to one and half or two hours at most but it now takes three to three and half hours due to its bad state. Commercial vehicles and articulated trucks loaded with goods get stuck on the way further heightening the dangers on the way especially at spending nights on the way. Highway bandits have also taken advantage of the bad nature of the road to lay ambush around the Tilli forest to rob travelers of their possessions. A situation that has forced the police administration to deploy personnel at that section of the road to ward off bandits. Many commercial drivers at the Bawku station in Bolgatanga told the this writer they have repeatedly changed their broken springs and shock absorbers, exhaust systems and other damage done to motor vehicles because of the poor state of that road. The state of the road has been a major source of worry for the ordinary person in the region. The drudgery one has to endure is simply unbearable. Both commercial vehicle drivers and owner of private cars have had close shave with death due to the series of pot-holes on the stretch of road. It will be recalled that on April 22, 2010, the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Lucy Awuni then on her way to Garu to inspect the extent of damage caused floods in the area in a company of five journalists were involved in an accident when her car ran into a ditch right in the middle of the road at Benguri. The Deputy Minister and the other occupant’s sustained injuries after the 4 x 4 veered off somersaulted several times before landing. Another major accident on that stretch of road due to the presence of a series of pot-holes was one involving the Majority Leader of Parliament, Mr. Cletus Avoka, his driver and bodyguard, who were racing to Garu to join late President Mills for the launch of the White Gold campaign relating to the cotton industry Saturday 26th March 2011 The 4 x 4 vehicle on reaching Lamboya near Zebilla, bumped into a large pot-hole sending the car off the road into the bush. In his case the vehicle was damaged beyond repairs but luckily the occupants survived with minor injuries. These are but a few examples of dangers travelers using the Bolgatanga –Bawku road encounter almost on a daily basis. I personally frequent that stretch of road and I recalled on two occasions, the front right tyre of the commercial bus I was travelling in came off its hold when it bumped into one of the numerous pot-holes on the road. It only took the grace of God on both occasions to come out unscathed. During his recent thank you tour of the Upper East Region, President John Mahama acknowledged the challenges motorists face on that stretch of road and announced that government has started the procurement process with the hope that in the next few weeks, the people in the region will see a contractor mobilized on that road to put it in a shape befitting a road linking the two biggest commercial towns in the upper east region. Well in the past two weeks, the region have experienced heavy rains and aggravated the difficulty in travelling on the road. The existing pot-holes have expanded further enhancing the risk of accidents on the road. Users of the road are patiently waiting for the said contractors to move to site and fix the road which has become a death trap especially after the recent torrential rains has worsened the state of the road.