By Kofi Owusu

The Paramount Chief of Prang, the district capital of Pru West in the Bono East Region, Nana Kwadwo Nyarko III, has made a passionate appeal to President Akufo-Addo through the Deputy Minister of Roads, who doubles as the Member of Parliament for the area, Mr Stephen Jallulah, to fix the Pru River bridge at Prang which has started deteriorating.

Nana Kwadwo Nyarko III

The state of the bridge

According to him, the bridge serves important purposes not only for drivers and passengers who use it to link Yeji direction but also for local farmers who have to cross it to their various farms.

In an interview, Nana Kwadwo Nyarko indicated that his unique leadership style often draws people close to him, and it was through this that an informant revealed to him the current nature of the Pru River bridge.

“I know our President is a listening one and I trust him as well as my own ‘son’, Stephen Jallulah; they will surely come to my aid as far as the fixing of this bridge is concerned,” he said.

The paramount chief recalled that when the Nyomoase bridge caved in, the President responded to the appeal from him and his people and fixed the problem in the twinkling of an eye.

He stressed the need for the government to urgently fix the minor maintenance on the bridge than to wait for it to cave in and spend huge sums of money on it later.

According to him, the country needs financial resources to embark on numerous projects, hence there is the need to avoid unnecessary cost due to negligence.

He cautioned, “If the Pru River bridge is closed, the only alternative for those coming from Yeji direction is to pass through Prang through Abease to Kintampo, then through Techiman to Kumasi which is too long and this would automatically increase the transport fares.”

He further appealed to President Akufo-Addo that even if the problem cannot be fixed, at least he should direct his men to do maintenance works on the bridge to help prevent any future disaster.