Rehabilitate Wa-Bole-Techiman road to curb fatalities, robberies - MP appeals to President

The National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament (MP) for Daffiame-Bussie-Issa, Dr Sebastian N. Sandaare, has appealed to President John Mahama to, as a matter of urgency, cause the immediate rehabilitation or reconstruction of the Wa-Bole-Techiman road to curb accidents, robbery and deaths along the stretch daily.

He said improving the condition of the major highway road would allow for easier movement of goods and services to markets and facilitate trade to boost economic growth in the Upper West and Savannah regions.

“It will reduce vehicle wear and tear, leading to lower transportation costs for passengers, businesses and consumers while enabling faster delivery times and improved supply chains, enhancing overall productivity and by extension, attracting more businesses and investments to a region,” he said.

Statement

In a statement he read on the floor of Parliament to draw the House’s attention to the deplorable nature of the Wa-Bole-Techiman road, Dr Sandaare was optimistic that enhancing the state of the road would also help to create jobs in those regions for the unemployed youth.

“It will further boost tourism and reduce the negative impact cited supra such as accidents, robbery and deaths along the road,” he said.

Dr Sandaare said one such important road network with enormous economic and social benefits to the people in the Upper West and Savannah regions and Ghana at large was the Wa-Bole-Techiman Road.

He said the road was an N12 trans-ECOWAS road that linked the Upper West and Savannah regions to the southern part of Ghana and neighbouring Burkina Faso.

He, however, said it was sad the road was very deplorable beyond description to the state that the social and economic benefits of a good road network were lost on the people. 

Abandoned route

Dr Sandaare explained that a journey which would naturally take less than 12 hours from Accra to Wa took an average of 18 hours or more now.

“Worse was that transport owners including the State Transport Company had started avoiding and even abandoning the road to the detriment of communities along that stretch,” he said.

“Mr Speaker, even though the importance of keeping this road in good shape is not lost on government, the neglect of the road for close to a decade without maintenance has left the entire road network in its present deplorable state.”

“Even though chiefs, commuters, drivers and MPs from the two regions from both sides of the political divide have made several appeals to past governments to fix the road, the situation has not changed as the condition of the road continues to deteriorate each passing day,” he said.

He pointed out that although the immediate past regime announced the award of a portion of the road to a contractor before it exited power, the contractor was yet to commence work on site.

“Also, the bad road network has a significant toll on the health of commuters and settlers.

The long sitting hours pose severe health challenges to the passengers. Respiratory diseases are equally rising among communities along the road due to the daily inhalation of dust,” he said. 

He further explained that patient transport was equally negatively impacted with reports of deterioration of medical conditions of patients who were referred to the Upper West Regional Hospital.