Spintex Road Agonies: Is There An End In Sight?

The range of hurt, frustration and anger commuters and residents of the 10km stretch of the nameless road popularly called the Spintex Road, endure daily includes, but is not limited to regular, interminable and pointless traffic, disdainful and wrongful overtaking by covered pick-up trucks parading as armored security cash vans to being subjected after 10.00p.m to pointless police cum military road blocks.

This attempt at a discussion though limited to Spintex Road is but a microcosm of the frustration suffered by residents of several parts of Accra. The situation is dire and needs urgent action. I have made several attempts to find out from the Department of Urban Roads when construction of the proposed dual carriage-way will begin. Recently the Department announced that construction of the road will commence. It did not give time frames for commencement of construction, completion dates etc. It gave us no real comfort. When built the road will lie parallel to the existing Spintex road and should end the woes of residents and commuters alike. I’ve warned the Department that buildings are springing up in the road reservation. Several alarmed calls to their very top brass have been met with the calm re-assurance; “our men will go and demolish these structures”. This has not happened and frenetic construction continues. Soon in compliance with a World Bank edict, we’ll have to pay compensation to illegal developers. The AMA and the Department of Urban Roads must quickly demarcate acceptable limits within which developers can build so that arguments such as ‘we were not given sufficient notice’, and ‘there must be a human face to demolition’ as happened recently at Weija and some other suburbs of Accra and Kumasi are avoided. AMA and Urban Roads Department be pro-active! Mark out acceptable limits for builders!

To the matter of traffic on Spintex Road must I return: In this matter may I on behalf of Spintex Road users and residents appeal to President John Kufuor to take an immediate, personal and urgent interest in this matter. This is one thing which requires the President’s personal and immediate intervention. It cannot be postponed to some indeterminate time in the ‘near future’. It cannot fall under the ‘it is on the drawing board’, the ‘plans are far advanced’ or the ‘in the pipeline’ category of government’s plans. I live 3.5km from the Tetteh Quarshie interchange. Every Saturday I when I have the ‘misfortune’ to have to attend a wedding or a funeral I spend two hours on that short stretch. This is a constant. It takes two hours to reach Cape Coast from Mallam Junction in Accra! On Saturday’s and Sunday’s when shoppers throng the Accra Mall we spend endless hours’ needlessly burning precious expensive fuel in traffic. This must stop. I pity residents who live further up that road.

As early as 5.00a.m on weekdays there is a mad rush of vehicles of every description scurrying along this road just to avoid traffic which reaches a head at 6.00a.m. School kids as young as 4 are regularly roughly woken up at 4.30 a.m. They have breakfast whilst commuting to school at 5.30 am. School generally starts at 8.00 am. It’s sad and unfair to them. They endure the same agony after school. I’m no medic but I’m certain we are latently nurturing in these kids diseases like hypertension and other stress related, incurable and now common ailments which are devouring 30 to 40 year olds in our fast paced world. Mr. President your personal and immediate intervention is sought. Please make obtaining funds for this priority project a priority in the 4 months you have left!

My second source of grief concerns the reckless, unlawful and quite disdainful overtaking that bullion vans, MP’s, ministers and other insignificant government ‘functionaries’ and other plain-mad drivers subject us to. If we must allow covered pick-up vans masquerading as bullion vans to overtake us, can’t we mark them clearly, legislate that they have a recognizable standard siren and other clear distinguishing features and educate us on their ‘rights and privileges’. At least then we know we have to make way when they bare down on us with their high beams even when there is no cash in them and their drivers are only off for lunch with sleepy policemen or their grinning girlfriends. Can’t the Ministry of Interior and the Police work out rules on their labeling, siren’s etc and charge each registered bullion van a monthly fee for the ‘right to overtake’ so we know they are paying for the privilege and feel less inclined not to grant them ‘right of way’? Everybody is late going somewhere; should that clothe us with power to do as we like on our roads? We all have money in our pockets. Should the fear, however silly, that we may be attacked by robbers give us a right to flout traffic regulations? It’s lawless out there. It’s worse by the day.

Last but no less important is the grief we are put to when we have to drive beyond the police barrier mounted a short distance from the tunnel leading to East-Legon at 10.00pm.each night. Designed to frustrate, this barrier ensures that should you approach it after 10.15 you spend at least 25 minutes in traffic before you reach it. Having achieved that, a grinning cop tells you to put your courtesy (inside) lights on, tells you how cold the weather is (a request for a cash handout,), and should you fail to respond positively to the weather situation are politely told to park off the road whilst the obviously irritated cop goes off to spend a few minutes with other errant drivers. Believe me; I’ve timed it several times. It really is pointless. Our police must review their methods at these barriers and strive continually to improve them. They ought to be able to profile the cars criminals use and ensure that traffic flows.

We are suffering: Mr. President, Minister of Interior and Inspector General of Police please hear our cry.

Johnny Blukoo-Allotey Accra, Ghana.