The dusty nature of the Huhunya to Asesewa road in the Yilo Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region has caused a fatal motor accident leading to the death of one person with 14 individuals critically injured.
The victims were taken to the Eastern Regional Hospital, where the injured received medical attention and the deceased was kept in the hospital morgue.
Nene Teye Kwame, the Dademantse of Huhunya told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the accident occurred on Friday when a Hyundai H100 bus with registration number GT 4520-112 headed to Nkurakan collided with a motorcycle.
He said the driver of the Hyundai bus with passengers, tried to overtake a minibus ahead of him amidst the suspension of dust and crashed into the motorcycle with two riders due to poor visibility.
This, he said led to the death of one of the riders and wounded 14 passengers of the minibus.
Nene Kwame partly blamed the contractors in charge of the construction of the Huhunya-Asesawa road for failing to water it to prevent the suspension of dust when driven on.
He stated that Maripoma Construction has not been watering the Huhunya part of the road for about 180 days or six months.
"The dust is killing us, and I believe that if the road was watered frequently, the vehicle that was crushed with the motorbike wouldn't have happened," he said.
Nene Kwame said the report from medical professionals indicated inhaling dust could lead to severe respiratory diseases, and therefore advised the watering of roads to save lives.
"The unfortunate thing about it is that the contractor comes to get water in our area and then goes to water other areas, leaving us in a dusty state," he said.
Nene Kwame said the dusty nature of the road had negatively affected traders who operated their shops along the road.“Several shops in our area have closed since the dust prevents us from conducting our usual business near the road,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Mr. Eric Tetteh, the Municipal Chief Executive of the Yilo Krobo Municipality, called on the Maripoma Construction Company to water the Huhunya-Asasewa road.
He made the call a few days after Generals Construction Limited began construction on the 11-kilometer Somanya-Kpong road.
Mr Tetteh said although the Contractor was watering the road, Maripoma Construction was doing the opposite on the Huhunya-Asesewa road, which led to many people abusing the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly.
"If you're building a road and you remove the bitumen on it, there will undoubtedly be dust, and it's vital to water it so that homeowners and other businesses won't suffer," he said.
Credit: GNA