By Nasratu Kargbo
Residents, pedestrians, bike riders, and vehicle owners have raised concerns over the deplorable state of the Kossoh Town road that leads to Hastings village. This road is amongst a list of roads that were supposed to be constructed by Gento Group of Companies.
According to the information on a government billboard erected along the main point of entry to the Kossoh Town community, the construction of all the roads that are indicated on the billboard, which includes Kossoh Town were to start December 2020 and finish June 2021.
Speaking to Politico, the headman of the community, Emerick Coker explained that the road is in a very bad state and for the past four years since he assumed office he has bought stones and organized the youths to patch up the road. He said when the contract was given to Gento, he visited and encouraged them on several occasions to start the road construction. Coker quoted the Manager of Gento as saying “the road is not a priority road”, but promised to come. The Headman used the opportunity to appeal to the company and all those concerned to please come to the aid of the community. “People are really suffering because of the state of the road,” he said.
“As you can see, the state of the road is very bad. When it is wet one can hardly walk on the road, and when you manage to walk, your shoes and the mud will be friends” said Mami Hinga, a Kossoh Town resident. She explained that there is no drainage system for water to pass through and that has caused puddles to settle all over the road when it rains, and therefore pleaded that the authorities consider the road. “This road is very important. When the Chinese were doing some maintenance work at Jui; this road was very busy as all vehicles that were heading to and from Waterloo used this road because there is no other road that can link them to their destination,” she said.
The Communication Specialist at Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA), Keifala Jaward explained to Politico that the Kossoh Town road and others that were assigned to Gento to construct will be worked on. “As we speak, Gento is busy with some Waterloo township roads and will soon get to the Kossoh Town road”, Jaward assured.
He said the construction company has been facing some challenges that have been the cause of delay for work on the roads. He explained that the soil and stones that Gento need for construction remain a challenge, with the company having an agreement with a landowning family to extract the soil, only for another family to come forward and claim the land, a situation that he said has delayed the company’s activities.
“As soon as the Waterloo roads are done, they will move to Kossoh Town,” he reassured. He explained that SLRA is working on a monitoring trip to the site to see how far the project has gone.
“The deadline for the construction of all those roads that were listed has been extended to December 2021,” said Jaward. He noted that this should be welcoming news because it has been confirmed that the road will be constructed.
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