The deplorable state of roads leading to communities within the Wassa Amenfi East District of the Western Region is said to be severely affecting economic activities within the district.

The present condition of the roads not only poses a challenge to trading and economic activities for the people in the district, but has also been described as a death-trap for drivers and traders who ply the roads on daily basis.

Traders and farmers, the worst affected, say the ‘unmotorable’ state of the roads has resulted in several losses as a result of the difficulties and challenges they go through to cart food produce and goods to surrounding market centres.This development, according to some of the traders, often leaves them cash-strapped and hopeless -- compelling many of them to question whether the district is indeed part of the country.

On a recent visit to Suhyenso, one of the affected communities in the Amenfi East District, several vehicles carrying food items to surrounding market centres were seen stuck in muddy parts of the road - leaving many of the traders in fear that their goods may go bad.

Nana ObiriYeboah, chief of Suhyenso, described the increasing post-harvest losses being recorded by farmers in the community as a great concern. He noted that farmers in the Suhyenso Township and surrounding villages go through a lot of difficulties to attend to their food crops during the course of the farming season, only to be confronted with the challenge of how to cart the harvested food items to market considering the state of their roads.

He said in most cases, due to the absence of vehicles to convey the food items to the markets and silos to store them, the food produce either has to be sold at cheap prices or left go bad in anticipation that a vehicle might come for them.

He therefore appealed to authorities in the Wassa Amenfi East District to help address the situation that has rendered poor many people in the Suhyenso community. In a related development, residents of Bowia - also a farming community in the Amenfi East District -- are appealing to authorities in the district for aid as they risk losing their source of livelihood.

Opanyin Yaw Nsowa, the chief farmer and a resident of the Bowia community, says they are always cut off from other communities whenever it rains heavily. This, he said, unfortunately often leads to post-harvest losses due to the inability of farmers and traders to get access to the marketing centres.