Residents of Hodzo, Kpenoe and Takla (Hokpeta) in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region have called on the government to ensure the completion of work on the 20-kilometer Barracks to Hodzo road.
According to the residents, the said road has for many years been awarded for construction but has not seen any progress in work.
As a result, the aggrieved youth on Wednesday, June 15, took to the streets in a protest to demand immediate action from the government towards the completion of the project.
Addressing the press during the protests, Divine Ganyo Convener and Zonal Council Chairman, said: “Since time immemorial, which is over a century when our forefathers migrated here, there has never been any major improvement on the road that connects us to the regional capital, Ho and for years now, it has been almost impassable.”
“We have been neglected, just promises over empty promises that the road has been awarded and the contractor will commence work next week,” he added.
They also revealed that five different contractors who had been awarded contracts for various works on the road have all abandoned work -leaving the road to deteriorate further, a situation they described as a “classic case of a waste of taxpayers’ money.”
A fifth contractor was also said to have left site in March this year due to a lack of funds.
“Our investigations reveal that the same contractor was awarded Akwete-Adaklu road and as we speak, the Akwete-Adaklu Waya road is completed, Barracks-Hodzo still remains uncompleted and cynically ignored.
“We were thinking this road will be a special road for this government because the Caltech Ventures was named as a factory under one district one factory yet the road that connects the factory to the regional capital is unmotorable.”
The youth further noted that the road becomes dusty in the dry season but becomes terribly unmotorable during the rains.
The nature of the road is also said to have culminated into astronomical rises in commodity prices as traders are forced to adjust sales to the daily struggles and transport fares they pay for using the road.
