Pressure group, OccupyGhana have expressed their disappointment in the Transport Ministry, Roads and Highways Ministry and the Ghana Highways Authority for their slow reaction towards the handling of the recent spate of fatalities at the Madina-Adenta highway.
According to the group, the aforementioned authorities have not taken any serious and active measures that would save the lives of the pedestrians who ply that stretch on daily basis.
Read: Work to begin on Madina-Adentan footbridges next week after massive protest
They quizzed why the footbridges had been abandoned by successive governments, thus making it unsafe for pedestrians to cross the multiple lane highway.
Although the Ministry of Roads and Highways has announced that work on the six uncompleted pedestrian bridges in Adenta will commence in a week, OccupyGhana hopes government will act on its word stressing that they (OccupyGhana) will hold them accountable till the bridges are completed.
Read: Residents block Madina-Adentan road as car knocks down one more person
Frustrated residents on Thursday staged a protest burning tyres and blocking the highway after a first-year student at WASS was knocked and killed by a speeding taxi driver.
They blamed the development on the failure of government to ensure that there are footbridges for pedestrians on the highway.
Following that, OccupyGhana has given immediate solutions that would reduce the carnage on the Madina-Adenta Highway. They provided a six-pointer solution that they prayed government adheres to in order to immediately resolve the situation.
Read below the full statement from the pressure group; OccupyGhana
OccupyGhana® presents immediate solutions for reducing the carnage on Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta highway (N4).
Read: GHS130 million set aside in 2019 budget for Madina-Adentan stretch Senyo Hosi
OccupyGhana® is alarmed at the spate of pedestrian deaths on the Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta Highway (N4) in Accra due to the unavailability of safe crossing facilities on the road. The latest fatality in which a first-year female student of West Africa Senior High School (WASS) was killed becomes the 194th reported death on the Madina-Adentan Highway this year.
https://www.facebook.com/theindependentghana/videos/322071761721572/
OccupyGhana® joins the nation in grieving with the bereaved families of the deceased.
The incident which caused angry residents to set ablaze car tyres to register their protest to the government is deeply regrettable and avoidable had government been proactive in arresting the situation sooner.
OccupyGhana® is surprised that after 11 years of construction of the highway, none of the footbridges have been completed, thus making it unsafe for pedestrians to cross the multiple lane highway. It is expected that footbridges, which forms the integral safety of pedestrians must be constructed before the commissioning of any highway.
OccupyGhana® is disappointed in the slow reaction of the Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Roads and Highways, and the Ghana Highways Authority in handling this issue thus causing the loss of a reported 194 lives. The mentioned authorities have not taken and safety measures to save the lives of innocent Ghanaians crossing our roads. We however acknowledge government’s statement in dealing with the situation and we will hold them to it.
https://www.facebook.com/theindependentghana/videos/297374127529132/
OccupyGhana® therefore calls for the following immediate solutions to be implemented in curbing the carnage on the Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta Highway (N4)
1. Effective immediately, rumble strips should be constructed on the long stretch of road beginning from the University of Ghana to the Pantang end of the highway to reduce the unnecessary speeding of drivers.
Read: Madina-Adenta Highway: Another pedestrian knocked down by speeding truck
2. Government should replace all faulty traffic lights that have been faulty with modern and solar powered controlled traffic lights. Further to this, extra traffic lights with toucan crossing system must be fixed to allow free flow of traffic.
3. Public education must be extended to the schools in educating the public on safe crossing of the highway by the National Road Safety Commission. The Road Traffic laws must be implemented to arrest drivers and pedestrians who flout the regulations of speeding and Jay walking respectively.
4. Officials of the MTTD of the Ghana Police must be on duty round the clock to control the traffic situation till all works are completed on the repair and installation of the traffic lights and rumble streets.
Read: Adenta highway protest: 6 WASS students knocked down this year Headmaster
5. Government must provide adequate road signs and markings along this stretch, as well as reflectors fixed on the kerbs. Marked crosswalks where pedestrians have priority over vehicular traffic e.g. zebra crossings should be provided
6. Government should fix all streetlights along the corridor and ensure they are maintained.
OccupyGhana® is concerned about road safety measures on other highways, most especially the N1 highway that is claiming a lot of lives. Government should apply these same measures on the N1 highway.
Yours in the service of occupying minds for God and Country
OccupyGhana®
Source:Â www.ghanaweb.com