Road users on the Kenyase-Abirem-Antoa road are resorting to nose masks and other coverings—not because of a return to COVID-19 safety protocols – but to shield themselves from the incessant dust on the abandoned road project.
“The dust is our biggest nightmare, and we can no longer wear white clothes,” says Adnan Suleiman, a commercial driver who transports passengers from Abirem to the Kumasi Central Market (Aboabo Station).
He laments that the current state of the road is taking a toll on his business because passengers cannot endure sitting in their vehicles at the loading point while waiting for others due to the overwhelming dust.
Suleiman is one of many road users enduring the challenges of this stretch, where a road project commenced months before the recently concluded 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Contractors worked tirelessly to meet a deadline promised by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to address the area’s poor road conditions and secure votes in the constituency, the party’s stronghold.
“As if the road was going to be completed and tarred for us,” remarked Jamila Abubakar, a caretaker of a shop near the road. “But the contractors packed up three days before the elections.”
Jamila shares that her 51-year-old mother, who owns a small shop selling provisions, has been admitted to a nearby health facility.
She attributes her mother’s illness to the unbearable dust.
Businesses along the road are struggling with the daily nuisance of dust. Items in shops are constantly covered, and the harmattan season has worsened the situation.
Although major drains and culverts have been constructed, the workers abandoned the site before election day, leaving road users to contend with dust and mud during rainy periods.
On other connecting roads, such as the Abirem-Nwamase stretch, the construction of drains has not even begun. Work on a bridge linking the Abirem and Antoa communities has also stalled.
This scenario is not new. Before the 2020 general elections, similar events unfolded, with work on the same road abandoned immediately after the polls.
At that time, road users accused the NPP-led administration of deceit and neglecting the residents of the Kwabre East Municipality.
While the government has made efforts to rehabilitate some roads in the area and upgrade others through the District Road Improvement Program (DRIP), road users, who have endured poor roads for years, are demanding a long-term solution.
Motorists like Adnan Suleiman argue that the New Patriotic Party-led government has failed the people of Kwabre East.
He insists that the incoming National Democratic Congress government must investigate why successive interventions to upgrade the Abirem-Antoa road have been left incomplete.
Suleiman added, “Those who were awarded the contract under the NPP government and failed to complete the project must be held accountable. If necessary, they should refund the money so it can be used for its intended purpose.”
There are several other abandoned election-year road projects in the Kwabre East Municipality, such as the Abirem-Abuoso road, which are causing more harm to road users than the intended good.
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