Samreboi is a town located in the Wassa Amenfi west constituency in the Western region of Ghana, Samreboi is well known for being the best producers of cocoa for some consecutive years.
Regrettably, when it comes to good roads, Samreboi and its environs, which consist of about 28 towns has nothing to talk of.
On 10th November, 2019, a pressure group by name concerned youths of Samreboi and the opinion leaders embarked on a peaceful demonstration to express their displeasure to the MCE, Hon. Lord Nana Tandoh; and MP for Amenfi west constituency, Hon. Eric Afful.
Nana Kofi Yeboah is the chief of Amoaku. He took part in the demonstration and led the concerned youth to deliver a petition to the MCE. The MCE to help address the concerns raised in the petition as there has not been any sign of construction on the road.
In an interview with Rhodaline Anane Mensah, a broadcast journalist, the secretary of for the concerned youths of Samreboi, Sulemana Luqman expressed worry about the state of their roads and how it’s affecting business in the town.
“Almost 95% of the people in Samreboi are farmers and what they grow most is Cocoa. When it’s time to transport the produce from here to town it becomes a burden, market women always come home with their items unsold because they find it difficult to reach the market place early because of the nature of the road”, he lamented.
According to Sulemana Luqman, the concerned youth have petitioned the Current Vice president of the republic of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia about the bad nature of their roads but to no avail.
“We started notifying the authorities about the nature of our roads not today but it seems like they have turned death ears on what we are saying. We petitioned the Vice president Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia but nothing has been done about it. We are pleading with president of the republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to kindly include our roads to his plans because what we cultivate here also helps in national development”, Sulemana Luqman pleaded.
Emmanuel Larbi is the president of the concerned youth of Samreboi. He also lamented on the issue at hand.
“The bad nature of our roads makes it difficult to ensure that patients who are referred to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and other bigger health facilities from Samreboi are in safe condition before getting to the hospital. Some health professionals are unwilling to accept postings to the locations with the bad roads in this region.
“The Samartex Hospital, a private primary hospital in Samreboi, and other health facilities in and around the town will be without specialists because of the bad nature of the roads. The nature of the roads creates more health problems for road users and complications for patients who ply the road to seek health care.
“Mortalities and mobilities are on a serious increase because of accidents, which are as a result of untarred and potholes. Patients who are mostly referred to bigger facilities in and around the area end up losing their lives where about five death cases are recorded almost in every month”, he said. Mr. Larbi added that “The bad nature of our road does not encourage people to move to sell their wares at commercial towns and markets, especially as the roads has resulted in about 18 armed-robbery cases on the roads on monthly basis.
“There is increase cost of maintenance for vehicles and increased fuel cost when they must ply alternative longer routes. It also takes a longer time to get to destinations.
“There is also loss of potential revenue to the state because people are unwilling to do business in the region with such a bad road network”.
He has therefore appealed to the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government to as a matter of urgency add Samreboi to the “Year of roads” initiative to help improve the lives of the people in Samreboi and its environs.
