Residents of Kue, Pawa, and neighboring farming communities within the Nkwanta South Municipality of the Oti Region have been compelled to unite and engage in communal labour to address the deteriorating condition of their roads.
The local roads, including others in the municipality, have reached a dire state, causing immense hardship for the inhabitants.
Despite their best efforts, they have struggled to transport their agricultural produce to markets, thus, affecting their quality of life.
Primarily consisting of farmers, the residents shared with Adom News’ Obrempongba Owusu that their initiative to collectively repair the roads using stones and sand was driven by the necessity to improve the transportation of their crops to various market centers.
Drivers who regularly traverse these roads mentioned that the area is known for producing substantial quantities of yams and other foodstuffs, but due to the poor road conditions, transporting these goods to markets has been a persistent challenge.
This difficulty has resulted in perishable produce spoiling before reaching its destination.
The inhabitants lamented that the subpar road conditions have prevented local market women from reaching their community to purchase farm produce. Urgent action from the government and relevant road authorities was thus appealed for to rectify this situation.
Geoffrey Kini, the Member of Parliament for the constituency, was informed about the community’s efforts and responded by coordinating the dispatch of trucks and boulders to aid in repairing certain sections of the road.
While commending the residents for their collective spirit, Kini expressed his frustration at witnessing the community resort to using basic materials like boulders and stones to mend the road due to the prolonged negligence from successive governments.
Kini highlighted that numerous reports about the dire state of roads within the municipality have been presented to the government, aiming to garner attention and resources for road repairs.
These efforts, however, failed to yield positive outcomes, even after extending an invitation to the Minister for Roads and Highways to address these concerns in Parliament.