Some artisans and spare parts dealers at Suame Magazine in Kumasi have blamed what they describe as the ineffectiveness of their Member of Parliament for the neglect of roads in the constituencies.

They claim Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has not done much in influencing development in the area.

Works on an asphalt overlay of the major link road in Suane have halted months after contractors milled the road.

The section of the road is dusty affecting businesses in the enclave.

“For five months, we have had to contend with dust. We do not make enough when we come to work and now our health is threatened due to dust. They don’t care about us”, said Kwaku Ansah, one of the protesters.

“For four months, our wares are locked up, we can't display them due to the dust. Work is really bad,” said John, an attendant at a spare parts shop.

The traders and artisans staged a demonstration on Thursday to protest the deteriorated roads in the industrial area.

The section of the dusty Suame-Maakro road was blocked to traffic for over two hours by the agitators.

It took police intervention to ensure the roadblocks were removed to ease traffic flow. This is the second time such an action has been taken.

Some of them believe their Member of Parliament is unconcerned about the situation.
“The Majority Leader who is our MP only comes around to campaign, sharing money to drunkards for their votes. We haven't seen the factories and dams promised by the government.  See what they are now doing to us”, James, an artisan, expressed worry.

Yaw Addai added “when election is due, our MP will organize a football competition offering three thousand cedis to the winner, he neglects all developmental projects after election”.

Leaders of the artisans at Suame Magazine who pleaded with the members to halt the demonstration, said the Urban Road Department has assured them the road will be fixed in the coming week.

“Unfortunately, they couldn’t finish the work because they were short of bitumen so they had ordered some from outside the country. Since then, there has not been further communication to us on what has caused the stalemate.  Yesterday, we took the opportunity to meet the Regional Engineer who gave us full assurance that by the weekend the bitumen will arrive at the Tema Harbor. So hopefully by Monday, they are coming back to the road,” Anthony Oppong said.

Since the present administration took power in 2016, the Ashanti Region has seen some improvements in road infrastructure.

But the cry for good roads has heightened in other parts of the Region