The 77-year-old Amoaku steel bridge that passes over the River Samre near Samreboi in the Wassa Amenfi West municipality of the Western Region is in a state of severe disrepair.

Originally built to haul timber, the bridge has for decades been crucial for transporting cocoa and food crops to harbours and marketing centres in some parts of the country.

Residents of Amoaku, a cocoa growing com­munity in the area, have, therefore, called on the government for urgent repairs as they fear that it is a ticking time bomb that could cause potential disaster.

He indicated that the boards on the wobbling deck of the bridge could effectively carry light vehicles but not the cocoa articulated trucks, which trek to the Takoradi harbour.

He added that the collapse of the entire bridge would cause economic and social dislocation in the Samre cocoa enclave.