Chiefs and people of Samreboi protest over unmotorable roads

Chiefs in Samreboi and surrounding communities in the Amenfi West District of the Western on Friday joined hundreds of people in the area to stage a demonstration to push government to construct some key roads in the area which have become unmotorable Though Samreboi is a major cocoa growing area and producer of timber the roads in the area are in poor state. Clad in full mourning clothing, the chiefs and their people hit the streets of Samreboi Friday to demand for construction of the roads by the government. They listed Samreboi to Aboi Nkwanta road, Samreboi to Prestea Nkwanta road and Sureso Nkwanta to Sureso road among others as those requiring immediate attention. Bearing placards with various inscriptions to sum up their plight and demand, the people in the area threatened not to vote in next year’s general elections if the government does not meet their demands. Their plight The poor state of roads in the Amenfi west district is seriously affecting lives of residents as pregnant women and patients have to trek for about 40 km to access health care. Drivers are refusing to ply the roads; something the residents say is adversely affecting economic activities. The Amenfi west district is one of the best cocoa growing districts in the country but many of the communities are grappling with poor roads with some totally cut off. Commercial vehicles have drivers have abandoned ceased plying the deplorable roads, making motorbikes their only source of transport. Periodically, when they get lucky, a tractor passing through the town lifts them to a point from where they continue their journey on foot. When 3news.com correspondents visited the area, many residents, including pregnant women and children and those requiring medical attention, were spotted trekking to their various communities. One pregnant woman told our correspondents that she had been walking for almost 20 kilometers from her village to Mumuni camp because no car plies on that stretch. She explained she does not want to board a motorbike because it could endanger her life and that of the unborn baby. A nursing mother has had to spend three days at Samreboi because she cannot find any vehicle to send her back home after sending her child to the hospital. Sadly, she is compelled to wrap her baby in just a cloth to trek the 31-kilometer distance back home through the scorching sun. It is a common sight to find women carrying their heavy loads and trekking while breastfeeding their children at the same time. Wednesdays are market days at Mumuni camp which is about 45 kilometers from Samreboi junction. Traders, mainly farmers from communities such as Samreboi, Woman no Good, Gravel Yard, Wasema, Torompan among others, bring their produce to sell at Mumuni. They wait several hours by the road side trying to either get a tractor or Kia pickup trucks to convey their produce to the market. These vehicles very often get stuck on the roads. Some youth have mounted a shed in the middle of the muddy road just to offer help to those whose vehicles get stuck in portions of the muddy road. Now residents of Samreboi and surrounding communities who say they have endured enough, are threatening not vote in the 2020 general elections, unless their roads are rehabilitated. By Paa Kojo Peters|3news.com|Ghana]]>