Stay clear from construction sites - Hawkers told

Mrs May Obiri-Yeboah, Executive Director of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) has expressed concern about the proximity of the Kasoa Market to the Kasoa Interchange site which is currently undergoing construction works, due to the possible hazards it posed to both the traders and shoppers.

She has also advised hawkers who have taken up the whole area to ply their trade to stay clear to save their lives from possible danger.

The NRSC Boss has consequently called on the relevant authorities including the Municipal Assembly to put in place the necessary protective measures to ensure the safety of commuters around sites where construction projects are currently on-going.

She was addressing the media after a tour of both the Kasoa and Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange projects on Thursday.

Mrs Obiri Yeboah was accompanied by some project engineers and DCOP Anwubotoge Awuni, Head of the Police Motor Transport and Traffic Division (MTTD) and the press.

DCOP Awuni, reiterated calls for the immediate relocation of lorry parks and markets from areas close to those construction sites as it would be very difficult to relocate them after the completion of the projects.

He also urged the Queroz Galvao, the contractors handling the two projects to endeavor to cover all open pits and drainages that they would construct to prevent people from using them as refuse dumps to create environmental problems.

DCOP Awuni was also not happy about the lack of road signs on the main Kasoa-Cape Coast (NI) Highway and asked that the appropriate road signs are put in place to avoid needless road crashes.

He announced that his outfit would deploy 2,000 police personnel ahead of the yuletide to help reduce the incidences of traffic congestion in the fast sprawling city.

The MTTD Boss applauded the traffic management team of the National Service Scheme for doing a great job to help address issues concerning road traffic.

Ing. Kweku Diafo, Chief Resident Engineer, Circle Interchange, said the project when completed would consist of three flyovers to ease easy traffic congestion in Accra.

He said already the Akasanoma Road that links the Nsawam Road, around the Vodafone building, and the other one connecting the Nsawam Road to the Nkrumah Avenue, around the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) building, had been opened to traffic.

“Another flyover under construction plus other works such as a new statue of Ghana’s first President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, a fountain and a police post, new lorry parks – among others things, are expected to be completed and inaugurated before June 2016,” he said.