Adentan MCE comes under fire from residents over poor roads, drainage

The Adentan Municipal Chief Executive has come under fire from angry residents for delays in fixing the over 600km of roads in the area.

The residents want Daniel Alexander Nii Noi Adumoah to fast-track the building of better roads and drainage systems within the Adentan enclave.

With an elite population of close to 111,105 people, the Adentan Municipality, largely residential, tells a contrasting story of well-developed road networks in some areas and slum-like roads in others.

In the raining season, the Otano electoral area in Adjiringarno, particularly, the Eric Aban Amewuda Street has been left un-motorable with poor or non-existent drainage systems.

This has left residents, businesses, and churches stranded as they count the cost of the strangling impact of the poor road networks in the neighbourhood.

Parts of the Adjiringarno/Otano vicinity are largely a low-lying area. As a result, the floodwaters from the adjoining estates, particularly the NTHC and Buildaf as well as Otano and Ability, find its way onto the Amewuda street wreaking havoc to businesses and residents in the process.

Besides, choked and defective drainage system of the adjoining estates also leads to the seeping of rainwater onto a section of Eric AbanAmewuda Street rendering it unmotorable.

The area has no proper drainage system but has a rugged patch of road; many walls have collapsed, properties destroyed in the neighbourhood following major downpours, posing an environmental and health hazard to the residents.

Responding to the calls by the agitating residents, Mr Adumoah said the Assembly is adopting a one-step-at-a-time approach in fixing the roads in the Municipality some of which are unmotorable.



According to him, out of the over 600km of road in the Municipality, a little over 130km have been constructed, leaving a deficit of over 450km yet to be constructed.

With residents clamouring for their share of development in the year of roads, the MCE said his outfit will ensure that all residents benefit from the ‘piece of cake’ even though some roads may have to be “prioritised” over others.

Complaints

According to the manager of one of the businesses in the vicinity, several efforts to get the Assembly to fix the road have been futile.

“Interestingly the Assembly officials ply the same bad roads to collect their property rates and other levies every year. How do they expect us to make money to pay those levies when clients do not patronize our business only because of the nature of roads?” she said.

She wondered why most of the surrounding roads have been constructed except the few meters of road within her vicinity.

“A poorly constructed bridge also remains a death trap in the neighbourhood because it floods anytime it rains,” another resident complained.



Even though some individuals, businesses and churches within the neighbourhood have tried on their own to construct portions of the road, a chunk of it remains inaccessible. They demanded a quick fix by the Assembly.

Year of roads

The MCE said Adentan is one of the fastest-growing communities hence the desire for development projects.

He said even though 2020 was declared as the year of roads before COVID-19 kicked in, the government has not reneged on its promise.

“Adentan has had its fair share of roads,” he said, adding the roads along the Islamic University Trasaaco, SSNIT estate, the Ghana-Canada roads have all been constructed.



He admitted the fast-growing nature of the Municipality means some residents are likely to lag behind as far as some services are concerned.

He called for cool heads by residents as the Assembly tries to meet the needs of all residents.