Mangu and Dobile residents form organization to repair abandoned bridge
On Saturday, July 30, 2022, the Assembly members of the Mangu and Dobile electoral zones arranged local labor and resources to repair a bridge that connected Presbyterian School Junction in Zindeli with Mangu in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region.
Speaking on behalf of his fellow assembly member for Mangu, the assemblyman for the Dobile Electoral area, Hon. Seidu Abubakari, expressed worry and concern about this built-but-abandoned Bridge since 2019.
He claims that the bridge’s design makes it challenging for people and drivers to cross it.
He claimed that despite being intended to be useful for the community, the bridge had been built, abandoned, and the site was now completely inaccessible to inhabitants during the rainy season.
He explained that, given the lengthy delay for the Contractor to return to the job site, they decided it would be prudent to take action as citizens to support themselves in order to make the Bridge somewhat motorable while they waited for the Contractor to return and finish it.
He said that with the help of the locals and other well-wishers, they were able to contribute enough to pay for three (3) trips of gravel to fill the holes the contractor had dug behind the bridge.
He emphasized that the lack of funding for the project is the reason the contractor is nowhere to be found, according to the check they made as assembly members.
He bemoaned the bridge’s poor design, which is endangering local people and drivers more than it is benefiting them.
Locals and drivers who were on the scene voiced their anger and disappointment at the Contractor’s decision to stop working on the project.
They urged the contractor to return and finish the job, saying that if it were finished, the road would make it easier for people to move around the Municipality.
The Regent of Zindel Naa, Mr. Amidu Seidu, bemoaned that the Chief and his elders had repeatedly brought this problem to the Wa Municipal assembly in an attempt to get the contractor to resume construction, but that they had received no response.
He commended the two assembly members, the locals, in particular the youth, for organizing such a communal effort to ensure their safety while they awaited a response from the government to bring the contractor back to the site to finish the job.
By: Romanus Bombe
