Faulty traffic lights at Tech Junction

The Traffic lightsat

Tech junction near the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

(KNUST) in Kumasi have not been functioning for the past three week leaving motorists

and pedestrians flummoxed as to whether who should move and who should stop.

This has downgraded the purpose for which these lights were

installed which includes, among others things, to help drivers avoid risks and

guide them to safe driving.

This is not the first time such a grave problem has occurred and

anytime this happens, it runs into months before the problem is fixed.

Tech junction is located near KNUST on

the main road with communities like Ayigya, Bomso, Ayeduase and others surrounding

it. It also has a trunk road linking the Central business district of Kumasi,

Kejetia, Adum among others to Accra, Cape Coast, Tamale and other big cities.

Apart from holding big trucks and

being busy all day, the Ayigya market as well as taxi and lorry station are

located around the stretch of the road. The KNUST primary, junior and Senior

High schools are also located in this area. What is more worrying is the fact

that some students cross the road with their younger siblings with little or no

caution.

The dense traffic problem leads to

snarl-ups at times when motorists, especially those with heavy truck take

advantage of the situation to over-speed and drive carelessly putting

pedestrian at risk, especially when it is murky. These motorists also stop for

pedestrians to cross the road at their own discretion.

The worsening faulty traffic lights

problems are tormenting as increasing malfunctioning of traffic signal lights

makes it difficult to regulate a smooth traffic flow on the busy road while

traffic sergeants are not in sight to control the movement of motorists and

pedestrians.

As some recalcitrant motorists who

habitually flout traffic laws, we should not create rooms for them to get a

version to substantiate their wrongs for not abiding by the prescribed rules.

In a country where traffic violations

are rampant and some of the systems are in shambles, the reluctance of

concerned officials to fix the problem is worrying.

As a country, we have embraced the

practice of hailing new things but we do not make efforts to maintain them. We

cannot sacrifice the life of an individual on this road on the altar of

negligence or inactions of some officials who are paid with the tax-payer’s

money to ensure that the lights are functioning.

It is as though we waiting for a

horrific accident to occur only to see a screaming headline like “Gory accident

at Tech junction” or even better, in the media the following day.

It is high time we kept the culture of

maintenance prime to our hearts to repair faulty traffic lights in the whole

country to keep them in working order.

Bright Habita

Focus Fm,

KNUST

brytbk2olein@yahoo.com