Dr Augustine Tawiah
Dr Augustine Tawiah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bia West has registered his displeasure at the poor state of roads in the area, saying they demand Government's urgent attention.
“As a result of the poor roads in the area, cocoa, timber and foodstuff that should be conveyed to Accra are locked up in the hinterlands,” Dr Tawiah lamented.
Describing the Western North Region as the food basket of the country, in a conversation with journalists, at the Parliament House, in Accra, he appealed to the Government to construct an asphalted road through Bia area to surrounding towns in the Western North Region.
Dr Tawiah said the Western North Region, during the rainy season, experienced some of the heaviest rains and as such put the people in the area at a disadvantage.
He said the road from Bentemaa to Osei Kwadwokrom, near the Ivorian border is in deplorable condition, and that the road project was awarded to a contractor under the Cocoa Fund, but came to a stop, with the reason that it is being audited.
“Now the whole road is in an appalling situation,” the MP said, adding, “If you see that the amount of work that was done, and now everything has gone to waste is terrible.
“We are not interested in politics of any kind, but we are interested in seeing that people were able to travel on the roads in Bia West and are safe.
Dr Tawiah recalled that Mr Amoako-Atta, Minister of Roads and Highways promised Parliament some months ago that from January to March, 2019, he would ensure that the contract for the road would be signed and also made sure the contractor started work on the road from April 2019.
However, none of the assurance the Minister made, is working now as the contract has not been signed and no work has commenced on the road.
As a result of the bad roads, the cocoa, timber and foodstuffs that come from the area are all locked in the bush.
“The people in the Bia West were not asking for anything extra, but saying that the road from Osei Kwadwokrom down to Bentemaa should be asphalted,” Dr Tawiah said.
Also, since the creation of the Kwaboson, Bia East and West districts, there were no tarred roads and as such vehicles and motorcycles found it difficult to travel on the roads.
“We are not asking for any preferential treatment, we are just saying, we are disadvantaged in Bia West and we want the road to be fixed.
“Our roads must be fixed, it must be in a condition, we can travel on, so that referrals from the district to the out joining districts can be done at ease,” the MP said.
