What kind of engineers are you? – Kennedy Agyapong slams Adenta-Madina footbridge contractor

• Kennedy Agyapong says the design of the Madina-Adenta Footbridge is the reason people find it difficult to use

• He believes the contractors who did the job did more of a disfavour to residents with the length

• He wants the engineers to rework the footbridge

Kennedy Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central has chided First Sky Limited, the contractors who constructed the Madina-Adenta footbridge.

Speaking on Net2 TV over the weekend, Agyapong observed that people’s unwillingness to use the footbridge is due to its design.

He lamented that the footbridge does not match the investment made on it by the Ministry of Roads.

“The engineers too, they are old-fashioned. You construct this long bridge and expect who to use it. Who should use it? The engineers too should fix it. We went on a Dubai trip and I intentionally invited the local government minister. Right in front of our hotel, there was an overpass. To cross the road, there wouldn’t be more than twelve steps.

The other day I saw someone using (a) motor on the overpass here. What kind of engineers are you? How can you do this design? People don’t use it because it's too long. The Roads Minister pumped a lot of money into that project because of the demonstration. Today, even ghosts are not using it. How can you make this design?”

The footbridge was constructed following weeks of demonstrations by citizens over deadly incidents involving pedestrians using the road.

The design of the footbridge was criticized by some people but the Project Manager for First Sky Limited, Ernest Hammond explained that the design was to accommodate physically challenged persons.

“The original design as I am aware of has stairs which was not disability friendly. What we have done is more disability-friendly; meaning it is a ramp rather than a stair and it’s easier to use for everybody,” he explained.

“The constraints we tried to overcome was, we want to make this ramp accessible to all; handicapped people and people who might not have the energy to go over a ramp that is very steep. We tried to make this as gentle as possible… This is the best design for the situation on the ground,” he explained further in a Citi FM interview.

“What we need to know is that with regards to the length of the bridge, this is internationally accepted and you can find similar structures all over the world. Some of them [are] actually longer. There are some bridges in the UK, China, and Dubai which are considerably longer than what we have constructed,” he added.