Motor crashes into abandoned bridge; kills 6yr old girl

A 6-year old girl has been killed after a motorbike she was riding on with her father and an uncle, crashed into an abandoned bridge on the Afiadenyigba-Havedzi road in the Keta municipality.

At about 10 pm on Saturday, February 22, the deceased, Ablor Shikakpe, the father and two others crashed into the bridge when the rider of the motorcycle was destructed by the headlights of an on-coming vehicle, leaving her dead and the others severely injured.

Confirming the incident, the Assemblymember of the area, Gilbert Kekli told Volta regional correspondent, Faisel Abdul-Iddrisu that, “I was devastated on that Saturday when the news broke. We rushed to the place but unfortunately, the girl died before reaching the hospital,” he said.

He added that “That bridge has been abandoned for years now, which has become a deathtrap to us.”The incident has forced the youth of Anlo-Afiadenyigba, to issue government a 2-week ultimatum to ensure that the contractor is brought back to site for the completion of work, within a reasonable time.

At a press conference held on Monday, the youth, led by the Gilbert Kekli [Assembly Member] said “…these uncompleted bridges or culverts have now become death traps. Since 2017, drivers who are not familiar with the Afiadenyigba-Havedzi road fall into the uncompleted bridge.

We are by this statement giving the Volta Regional Director of Highways/Urban Roads Authority, the Regional Minister, the Minister of Roads and Highways and the Keta Municipal Assembly, a two-week ultimatum to ensure that the contractor for the Anlo Afiadenyigba to Havedzi roads, is brought back to site to complete all uncompleted death trap bridges,”

They threatened to mobilize themselves for the completion of the work, if their demand is not met.“Should the above-mentioned authorities fail to urgent give attention to our demand, we shall mobilize all our youths both in Anlo-Afiadenyigba and Havedzi, where the materials meant for the projects will be used to fill the uncompleted bridges; this we believe would prevent any future accidents and deaths on the road.”

The youth also called on the assembly to ensure the completion of all death trap market sheds in the Anlo Afiadenyigba market to prevent future calamities, other than that, they would take steps to pull down all these structures.

In 2013, the then government began an initiative towards the construction of Anlo-Afiadenyigba to Havedzi roads, with the purpose of extending same to Weta and other communities.Meanwhile, the young girl has since been buried on Monday, March 2, 2020 at Dogbekorpe, a village near Anlo-Afiadenyigba.

Work on the Anlo-Afiadenyigba to Havedzi roads which is a Government of Ghana [GoG] project, was awarded to a company called KAPRA URC, under the supervision of the Regional Highway Director, but was never completed before a change of government in 2016.

Though the contractor has been seen on site a couple of times, work has not progressed, leaving that stretch of the road in a very deplorable state, endangering lives on daily basis.