The Konongo-Odumasi road, which is a stretch of the main Accra-Kumasi Highway will be closed temporarily to traffic due to structural defects.

Authorities say they have detected huge gullies beneath the asphalted surface which pose a potential danger to road users.

Close to the main Kumasi-Accra road at Akrantebesa in Konongo is this big, deep gully eating into the main road gradually.

Also, residents that live along that stretch of road have been ordered to evacuate to allow for work to begin immediately.

Residents' concerns

Residents say the road defects began developing over five years ago and has since extended almost half into the main road.

They suspect illegal mining activities are to blame for the dangerous gullies.

“It was not this big; they used to do alluvial mining here, close to where the gully had developed. The water from the mine caused this gully,” a resident told Luv News.

Some residential structures have already been earmarked for demolition to facilitate the repair works.

This means residents must evacuate immediately but some of them are pleading for time, though they are happy about the effort to avert danger.

“Nobody will survive if there is an accident; we are ready to relocate because fixing the road is important to us”, another resident said.

It is unclear when the closure of the road will start but detours are being created to ease the traffic on the stretch of road during the repair works.

Some occupants of temporary structures near the stretch of the road earmarked for the repairs also want their structures to stand as work progress.

“We will leave but we cannot build new structures, so they should allow our structures to stand so we can re-occupy after the work is done,” a businessman appealed.

MCEs plea

Authorities have since moved in to fix the road and other bridges at Odumase Zongo Junction and the areas between Odumase and Konongo.

Municipal Chief Executive for Asante Akyem Central, Susan Akomeah, has pleaded with residents to relocate to pave way for the reconstruction of the broken bridges.

“If we do not repair that damage it is going to be a disaster which will not be locally but will be a national disaster because it is a major washout.

"We don’t want any accident to happen in those areas, we will plead with those along that area that has been marked with the red crosses to move immediately because work is about to start,” he said.

The affected place has been cordoned off by the contractor.

Mrs Akomeah says the contractor is ready to work, “so we should not put any impediment on the way so that they can carry out the work and move to the other two areas.”

Compensation

Often when construction of this nature starts, residents caught up in the area of construction are paid compensation.

But Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, says no compensation will be paid on property found on these repair-work paths.

He quotes the Executive Instrument (EI) 17 of 2004, “Under the Executive Instrument (EI) 17 of 2004, compensation was paid to all the people who were affected then, so all those who have reconstructed the demolished property and those who are erecting temporary structures rebuilding their temporary structures [will not be compensation again].”

According to the laws of the country, compensations are not paid for the same project twice so no compensations will be paid. Mr Osei Mensah says persons who commit their selves to erect any structure there does so at their own risk.

“The project cannot wait; we don’t want anybody's property to be destroyed, so we want them in their own volition to move especially areas for diversion.”

The consultant for the project ABP Consult and the construction firm, Highbrains Company Limited, have both done their final inspection on the damaged areas.

Though a specific date of the completion of the project has not been given, officials believe it will be done as soon as possible if resident corporate and funds are made available.