Akosombo -- Residents of New Akrade, near Akosombo in the Aswogyaman district of the Eastern region, are besides themselves with throbbing hearts due to the alarming rate at which motor accidents are claiming the lives of people in the town.
According to investigations conducted in the town, between January and April this year, about 10 motor accident cases have been recorded and out of the figure, six persons lost their lives including a medical doctor and his wife.
Chronicle gathered that in 2001, twelve deaths occurred on the same road and the figure swelled to 19 plus six persons sustaining various degrees of injuries.
It however appears that the district assembly and the district security apparatus are helpless in dealing with the situation, Chronicle gathered.
New Akrade can be located about 64 kilometres away from Tema, along the main Tema-Ho highway. A tour of the town by this reporter revealed that the highway has a smooth surface and descends at a point along the route.
Drivers from Accra-Tema towards Ho have to descend a sharp slope and drivers using the opposite direction have to climb the same slope.
It was detected that this is the point where drivers who are ignorant of the existence of that slope speed along and hit unsuspecting pedestrians who might be crossing the road at the time, killing the pedestrians or themselves in the process.
The paper learnt that the continuous problem compelled the chief, elders and people of the town to appeal to the district assembly to erect speed ramps to force drivers to reduce their speed when they reached the town, but as of now, nothing has been done.
But Dr. Godfred Kofi Siaw, the Asuogyaman district chief executive (DCE) told the Chronicle in a telephone interview that ever since he assumed office some two years ago, he has worked very hard to impress upon the authorities involved to construct speed ramps on the road; but it has not been easy.
According to the DCE, he had talked to almost all the big shots in all the departments of the Ghana Highways Authority, including the department of Development, yet all the promises given to him have not yielded any fruit.
He further stated that he was later informed by the Ghana Highways Authority that the contract had been awarded to a contractor who was to commence work on the project soon.
Dr. Siaw noted that "about three month ago, a team of construction experts was despatched to Asikuma junction, which joins the main Accra-Ho highway to conduct a feasibility study for the construction of the highway ramp strips, but till date, noting concrete has been done.
A source at the Akosombo district police station disclosed to Chronicle that the matter has been discussed extensively at the district security committee level and he was very much aware that the DCE was working very hard to get the speed ramps to be constructed to save the situation.
Chronicle also discovered that some residents of the town planned to erect their own speed ramps on the road, but the Akosombo police called the assemblyman for the area, Hon. Adomako Acheampong to warn his people to put a stop to their action.
The police explained that what they intended to do was illegal and that it is only the Ghana Highways Authority which has the sole responsibility to construct such structures on our roads.
The assemblyman who conducted this reporter round some of the dangerous spots said they had complained time and again, but to no avail.
Hon. Acheampong, who is popularly known by his people as 'Jamaica,' appealed to the government to step in to ensure speedy work on the project as the number of lives being lost on that road is heart-rending.
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