Residents of Sawaba Adenyase in the Ashanti Region have intensified calls for the government to fix a broken footbridge in the area.
According to them, the broken bridge is largely the reason why the area gets flooded anytime it rains.
Their call follows an incident where a one-year-old boy, Mohammed Awal, drowned during a downpour on Wednesday evening.
The body of the toddler, according to the National Disaster Management Organisation, was found some 45 meters away from where the incident occurred.
Aisha Alhassan, the grandmother of Mohammed Awal, who was with the toddler and his mother at the time the incident occurred, narrated her ordeal.
“I took a tricycle yesterday [Wednesday] from Tech to Sawaba. When the tricycle got here, and we saw the level of the water as a result of the flood, I told the rider to take a different route. The rider did, but he later suggested that we wait for a while and observe if he can pass through. When the rider realised that other riders were passing through, he decided to also pass through. When he did, we struggled in the water and the rider advised that we pray. He later instructed us to get down, and when we did, the water took my grandchild away.”
Some residents say several pleas to authorities to fix the broken bridge have proven futile.
They claimed such drowning incidents have occurred in the past.
“Anytime it rains, it floods this area. This is something we experience frequently, and yesterday’s [Wednesday] incident is not the first. It happened last year and the last two years. We are currently in June and July is just at the corner and this is the rainy season. We really need help. We are appealing to authorities to do something about our situation,” Isaac Dazam stated.
“We have sent several complaints to authorities regarding this bridge, but nothing has been done about it. The Municipal Assembly is just a few meters away, and they witness what happens when it rains. This is the fifth time we are losing a life as a result of their negligence. So we are pleading with authorities to do something about this,” another disturbed resident, Abdul Samed pleaded.
