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.Constructed in 1947 by Africa Timber and Plywood (AT&P), now SAMARTEX, the bridge on the Mumuni Camp-Prestea road has not undergone any major repairs since its construction.The metal spokes have become visibly rusty and shifted, weakening the entire structure, while expansion joints have developed noticeable cracks, likely due to years of neglect.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.Expressing the anxieties of the community, the secretary to the Amoaku Palace, Mr Jo­seph Kingsley Armah, told the Ghanaian Times yesterday that the present state of the bridge had reduced flexibility along the joints. "It's very, very bad.

The over seven decades-old bridge can no longer handle heavy vehicles like the articulated trucks which haul cocoa from buying centres in this area.

It's not safe for heavy traffic," Mr Armah added.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.Mr Armah suggested that the government should, in the interim, dispatch a maintenance crew from the Ghana Highways Authority to the site to repair the Amoaku Bridge.He added that the collapse of the entire bridge would cause economic and social dislocation in the Samre cocoa enclave.He said, "In the long term, government should construct a new bridge over River Samre, at Amoaku.

This area, apart from foodstuffs, is a major cocoa growing area from Mumuni Camp through Prestea up to Samreboi and it's a critical player in Ghana's cocoa economy."Mr Armah told the Ghana­ian Times that, apart from the Amoaku bridge, there were no alternative routes to access mar­keting centres in Prestea, Enchi, SefwiWiawso, Tarkwa or Takora­di, explaining that emergency medical responses were handled with tricycles.The situation, he stated, had posed a huge challenge to the people living in the area and commuters who use the bridgeResponding to the complaints, the Municipal Chief Executive, Lord Nana Tandoh, told the Ghanaian Times that a team, on Sunday, began repairs on the Amoaku bridge, and assured that works would be completed to bring relief to the Samre communities.

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