Dust killing us, order contractor back to site - 'Hwidiemmanhene' appeals

The residents of Hwidiem and its environs are now living in heavy dust pollution created by abandoned Hwidiem-Kenyasi and Hwidiem-Maabang roads rehabilitation projects.

The pollution is so much and hazardous that, besides causing road crashes, heart and lung diseases are becoming common among the people, Osuodumgya Appiah Dwaa Boafo, Paramount Chief of Hwidiem revealed on Thursday.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Hwidiem in the Asutifi South District of the Ahafo Region, Osuodumgya Boafo lamented “the too much dusty situation is killing us health-wise and destroying our personal belongings”.

“It is also driving away government sector workers from the area and collapsing locally-established micro, small and medium scale businesses”, he bemoaned.

According to him, the 4.8 kilometre (kms) Hwidiem-Kenyasi and 16-km Hwidiem-Maabang roads had been abandoned by Kofi Job, the contractor and Chief Executive Officer of Kofi Job Company Limited, a Ghanaian construction firm since July 2020.

Lamenting in a sorrowful mood, Osuodumgya Boafo appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta, the Minister for Roads and Highways to immediately ensure the return to site by Kofi Job or abrogate the contracts and rearward them for speedy completion.

He expressed the hope that after the swearing-in of Nana Akufo-Addo on Thursday, January 7, 2021 for a second term of his Presidency and as the fifth President of the Fourth Republic, he would prioritise “our plight among other equally urgent national socio-economic development issues that require immediate attention”.

---GNA