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UEW STUDENTS STRANDED AS DRIVERS BOYCOTT SSNIT ROAD OVER EXTENDED CONSTRUCTION DELAYS
By: Akosua Awelana Akwoviah | Student ID: 5240350004 | Level 300, Journalism and Media Studies, UEW
WINNEBA — Students of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) are facing serious transportation challenges as commercial drivers have boycotted the SSNIT Road, citing severe damage to their vehicles caused by construction works that have lasted for almost two years.
The boycott has left hundreds of students who live in private hostels along the SSNIT corridor stranded, especially during morning and evening peak hours. Many are now forced to walk long distances to campus under harsh weather conditions just to attend lectures.
The construction works on the SSNIT Road started last year. The project was meant to upgrade the drainage system and resurface the road that connects the main campus to key student residential areas. However, the work was abandoned midway. The road is now full of deep gullies, loose stones, and dust, making it almost impossible for vehicles to pass.
Drivers in the area say plying the road has become a loss to them. They complain of frequent tyre punctures, broken shock absorbers, and damaged undercarriages. As a result, many drivers now stop their journey before reaching the hostel areas and refuse to go further, even when students beg them.
“We cannot spend all our daily earnings at the mechanic shop every evening,” a local driver told this reporter. “The road is in terrible shape. Until the contractor returns and fixes the surface, taking passengers down to the SSNIT hostels simply isn’t worth the cost.”
The few drivers who agree to use the road have increased their fares drastically to cover the risk and the high cost of repairs.
For students, the situation has become an everyday struggle.
Students now walk for 20 to 30 minutes daily carrying heavy backpacks and laptops to lectures. At night, walking along the dusty and poorly lit construction path is unsafe. Many also arrive late for early morning lectures and examinations.
“Walking back to the hostel after a late evening lecture is exhausting and unsafe,” said a Level 300 student living in the SSNIT enclave. “When it rains, the road turns into mud; when it’s dry, the dust is overwhelming. Now that drivers won’t come here, we have no choice but to walk.”
Student leaders, hostel managers and transport unions are now calling on the university management, the Effutu Municipal Assembly and the Department of Urban Roads to intervene immediately.
They are appealing to the contractor to return to site to at least grade and level the road to make it motorable while waiting for the final tarring.
As academic work continues, students are hoping for quick action to restore normal transport services along the SSNIT Road.