Youth in Agordeke in the Afram Plains district of the Eastern Region have “besieged” a vessel agreed to be sent to Yeji in the Brong Ahafo Region to help in the transport of passengers and vehicles in the wake of the closure of the Bupei and Yapei bridges.
The youth have seized the keys of the ferry from the captain and have gone aboard, preventing any attempt to move the ferry.
This was disclosed on 3FM‘s Midday News on Wednesday by the Director of Operations of the Volta Lake Transport Company, Emmanuel Ofoe.
He told anchor Kwakye Afreh-Nuamah that the youth have “come on board and seized the keys”.
This is in a clear defiance to a government directive to have the ferry sent to Yeji to help rescue stranded passengers.
The situation in Yeji has resulted due to the closure of two main bridges in the Northern Region – Bupei and Yapei bridges – for civil works.
READ: Scores stranded at Yeji ferry station
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwesi Amoako-Atta, has been summoned by Parliament over the situation.
Though a Deputy Minister of Transport, Daniel Titus Glover, said agreement has been reached to have the ferry from Agordeke and one other in Makango sent to Yeji as part of emergency measures to save the situation, the youth’s action is expected to worsen the crisis.
“They are there in their numbers,” Mr Ofoe lamented.
It is unknown the next action government will take.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana
Correction: Original write-up mentioned Agordeke as a town in the Volta Region.