Ferry on River Oti breaks down, leaving 200 stranded

More than 200 vehicles and travellers on the River Oti at Dordoe-Korpe in the Oti Region are stranded after their only mode of transportation broke down on Tuesday (7 May).

A visit by Asaase News to the landing site in Dambai revealed that over 160 vehicles carrying goods and foodstuffs, including saloon cars, buses, articulated trucks, fuel and petrol tankers and more, were waiting to be booked and transported to the river banks of the Oti.

Newman Amandor, a driver from Accra to Kpanda who has spent over 48 hours on the riverbank, has urged the Ghana Highway Authority to construct a bridge across the River Oti to facilitate their movement and make travel on the river easier.

Speaking with Asaase News, some of the stranded passengers said this has been one of their challenges whenever the ferry develops a fault, leaving them stranded at the mercy of the weather, particularly during the rainy season.

Josephine Owusu, a businesswoman from Tema who was travelling to the Krachi West Municipality for her usual business, stated that the situation is affecting their businesses and modes of transportation because they must sometimes rely on the boat, which can overload them.

“Sometimes, we have to depend on the boat to cross the river and mostly the riders also overload us because they Know we are stranded. Some of the boats too have no lifejackets to protect us in case of any emergency.” She laments.

“I want to appeal to the president and the transport ministry to turn they face to the river Oti and construct a bridge over the river ”

Meanwhile, Commander Victor Oppong Fianko, Volta Lake Transport Limited’s (VLT) operations manager, stated that the ferry developed an electronic fault and that a team of mechanics has been dispatched from Akosombo to repair the broken ferry.

He emphasised that all stranded vehicles would cross later in the day and expressed hope that the ferry would resume full operation once repairs were completed.

Reporting by Solomon Mensah-Ahiable in the Oti Region