Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza, the Minister of Roads and Highways has ordered the immediate closure of a bridge over the River Offin at Kukuom in the Atwima Mponua District, for rehabilitation.
He gave the directive when he inspected the life-threatening bridge following a widely circulated video on social media about the deplorable state of the bridge.
The Minister, who was accompanied by the Ashanti Regional Minister and some members of the Regional Security Council, tasked engineers under the Ministry to work closely with a contractor to fix the bridge within three months.
The contractor is expected to create a detour in the interim to ensure traffic flow during the period of reconstruction.
“This issue was reported since 2018 and we never had a solution but President Mahama says he was not elected to complain but to deal with things and so he sent me here to assess the situation.
What we are seeing here now is that we need to completely shut down the bridge to allow the engineers to work with the contractor to quickly remedy the situation,” the Minister stated.

The movement of heavy trucks on the bridge due to mining activities in the area instead of using low beds to transport such trucks, according to him, was contributing to the deterioration of the bridge.
He said such practices would have to cease upon the completion of the rehabilitation works.
Mr Agbodza stated that the President was committed to the provision of good roads across the country and thanked the chiefs and people in the area for their cooperation despite the inconveniences the work may cause them.
The Minister and his entourage also inspected the access road to the Agenda 111 Hospital Project at Trede, where he tasked the contractor to upgrade the road to make the facility accessible.
He later proceeded to the site of the Suame Roundabout Interchange Project where he interacted with the contractors on the way forward for the continuation of the project.
He said though source of funding was a bit problematic, but since it was a national asset, the President remained committed to its completion to serve the good people of Kumasi and beyond.
Dr Frank Amoakohene, the Regional Minister also commended the local authorities for their support and cooperation and allowing the projects to go on smoothly.
He said he would collaborate with Ghana Water Company Limited to restore water to residents whose supply may have been affected by the project.