Pupils of Agave D/A Basic School in the Wassa East constituency of the Western Region risk drowning and losing their lives anytime it rains due to the deteriorating nature of a footbridge that serves the Wassa Agave community.
The community, which has a population of over 1,500 people, produces the country’s largest-selling crop, cocoa, including cassava, plantains, and various vegetables.
Despite the community’s efforts to produce for the country, the needs of residents, including children, are not taken into consideration, leaving them frustrated.
One major problem in the community that has recently been a talking point is a “death trap” bridge that links Soko to the main Agave community, where the only public school in the area, Agave D/A Basic School, is located.
Lamenting the predicaments they face as a community, residents reveal that the majority of the schoolchildren who attend Agave D/A Basic School live at Soko, Adjake, and Avor (all suburbs of Wassa Agave) behind the bridge.
According to residents, the bridge is not fit for purpose, hence the need for authorities to urgently address it before it causes an unforgettable disaster in the future.
“Every week not less than three of these school children fall in a river because of the highly disjointed state of the bridge, although no death has been recorded so far, we should not wait for it to happen”, some residents said.
Residents have also appealed to the Member of Parliament for Wassa East constituency, Hon. Isaac Adjei Mensah, and the DCE for the Wassa East district, Hon. Emmanuel Boakye, to construct a new bridge as quickly as possible.