W/R: Hundreds stranded as two trucks break down near Ewusiejoe bridge

Hundreds of travellers have been left stranded at the Ewusiejoe stretch of the Agona Nkwanta to Takoradi road in the Western Region for the past two days.

Two heavy duty trucks have blocked areas close to the Ewusiejoe bridge as they have been stuck in big ruts on the road.

It is estimated that more than 100 vehicles have been locked up at both ends of the road.

Heavy duty vehicles, long distance buses, inter-city vehicles have all been locked up.

Passengers going to destinations close to them have had to trek; some for three hours.

Unfortunately, those going long distances, including some foreign passengers, have been forced to sleep in their buses.

Reporters who were at the scene Wednesday evening say some of the passengers “have run out of food and have begun to beg for help”.

“We saw one woman with her baby strapped to her back who had walked for about 20 minutes going into the next town to look for food to buy. She told us she way not expecting this situation and so did not prepare.”

She had left her belongings to someone she only met on the journey and prays she meets her belongings in one piece when she returns.

“We have been exposed. Guess what will happen should some people decide to take advantage of our situation,” a distress passenger lamented.

Ahanta Traditional Council protest

This will not be the first time a blockade has occurred on the road only that this time it has been three days.

The Ahanta Traditional Council demonstrated and asked that government fix the road.

The response was patching of the road which commuters said rather worsened the situation.

What are the authorities doing?

Personnel from the Ghana Police Service are at the scene but without any heavy machinery and so the problem persists.

Ahanta West Municipal Chief Executive John Agyare is too “busy dealing with the problem” which have been there for three days and will not respond to radio interviews to update and calm down the troubled passengers with what the authorities are doing.

There are quite a number of heavy duty companies operating on that stretch. Indeed, some of them have had their vehicles locked up as well.

“How is it that city authorities cannot impress on these companies to help. For three days we have been here. What is happening to Western Region. Do we have leaders here,” another stranded passenger wondered.

Radio stations in Sekondi-Takoradi and beyond have since Thursday morning dedicated their morning shows to directly appealing to companies to help.

“It seems like leadership is failing Western Region and so we have to step in. At least that is the essence of journalism,” a morning show host who wants to be unnamed said.

Source: Eric Yaw Adjei