Get the contractor back on road – Anlo-Afiadenyigba appeals to government

The chiefs and people of Anlo-Afiadenyigba in the Keta Municipality have appealed to the government to get the contractor working on the Anlo-Afiadenyigba Junction to Havedzi Road back to the site.

Togbi Kadzahlo IV, Dufia of Anlo-Afiadenyigba who appealed said construction works on the road had stalled for close to a year, and that the government needed to urgently get the contractor back to resume work on the road to avoid the road, already in a bad state from further deterioration.

He appealed in his welcome address during the official launch of this year’s Anlo Hogbetsotso festival in his community, the first time it was being launched on Anlo soil as previous ones were held in Accra and Tema.

In 2022, when the community hosted the Mini Hogbetsotso festival, Togbi Kadzahlo commended the efforts of his subjects to levy themselves to mobilise resources in an attempt to fix the potholes on the road through communal labour before the government finally came to their rescue and awarded the road on contract to be fixed.

He, however, expressed fears then that construction works which had then recently resumed on the road would stall because workers had been absent on the road for a few days to the celebration.

“This road had been in a bad state for years. Last year, we started mobilising money ourselves to fix the road, and the government quickly jumped in to take over.

“Regrettably, the work has been abandoned and no one is telling us anything.

“I want to use this opportunity to request the Keta Municipal Executive, Hon Emanuel Gemegah to liaise with the Regional Minister and the Ghana Highway Authority to as a matter of urgency, get the contractor back on the road. As you can see, the road is fast deteriorating.”

Togbi Kadzahlo also appealed to the government for help to dredge the Keta Lagoon to prevent possible flooding and also to boost fishing activities in communities along the lagoon.

“The sad truth is that the lagoon is heavily silted and cannot contain enough water such that with the slight influx of rainwater or water from any other source, many communities along the lagoon including Alakple, Anyako, Atiavi and Anlo-Afiadenyigba will be severely flooded.

The occasion, attended by chiefs and queens from all three wings of Anlo (left, middle, and right) as well as citizens who saw the rich display of beautiful cultural and historic heritage, had Togbi Adzenu III, Chief of Dzodze as its Chairman.

The theme for the festival, also known as Hogbeza, is “Climate Change, a Challenge to Lands Below Sea Level: A Concern of the Anlo State and the Stakeholders.”

The festival will climax on Saturday, November 4, 2023, at Anloga, the traditional capital of the Anlo State.