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Traveling or fishing by boat on the Sene River in the brong Ahafo Region are increasingly risky because of strains.
At least four fatal accidents occur each year on the river, which is the only means of transport to and from each side.
Residents use rickety boats and canoes to fish and travel about 80 kilometers to the other side of the river.
Sene River connects the inhabitants of Akyeremade-Battor and more than 50 communities of Sene West, Kejeji in the districts of Sene East, in the Brong Ahafo region, as well as KrachiNchumuru district in the Volta region.
Officials from the Sene West District Assembly said that about 7,000 people are employed directly or indirectly in fishing.
Each year, more than 250,000 people use the Sene River.
Thousands of tree stumps in the river make fishing and transportation dangerous.
The following boat accidents have also been alarming lately.
Five accidents were recorded on the river in 2018. A number of other tragic incidents have not been reported.
In the latest incident, 23 people, mostly traders, were killed when their boat capsized after hitting a tree stump.
A fisherman, Samuel Hloademe tells how he almost lost his life on the river in 2014.
He witnessed another accident the following year when the four people in a small boat drowned.
"It is God who preceded, otherwise I would have died in the river," he said.
According to him, although traveling on the Sene Rivers in small canoes and boats are dangerous, residents have no other option.
"We want to appeal to the government to get us machines that we can use on the river for our safety, "he said.
Sene East district director John Nyarbah wants the Ministry of Transport and Fisheries to intervene to limit accidents.
"We normally record three [accidents]one year; sometimes four and sometimes fatal … sometimes all the people in the boat die "
He said the situation worsens during the dry season when visibility is poor.
"It's really true that the strains are in [the river] and that causes accidents and many people die as a result of these accidents. Some of the boats that they have[fishermen and transporters] use are old. They are not worthy of being used on the river, "he lamented.
Although the badembly wrote letters to the Department of Fisheries, this has not yet yielded results.
according to m Nyarbah, improve security on the Sene River will not only save lives, but also improve the income of the badembly.
"We have a ferry to Lake Volta, it's East Sene, but it does not come here, so our people needs a ferry.
"We will appeal to the government so that if we also get a ferry here and those who do the Peach also need new equipmentthat is, new boats that will help them do their job effectively, "he said.
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