Residents of Samsam Odumase, near Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region, have taken action by blocking the Samsam Fotobi road to prevent tipper truck drivers from using it.
The protest is in response to the deteriorating condition of the road, which residents attribute to the heavy loads transported by these tipper trucks.
Approximately ten tipper drivers have found themselves stranded on the road, forcing them to seek alternative routes for their travel.
One resident expressed their frustration, stating, “we are stopping these people. They are destroying our roads, and we don’t want that. The taxi drivers in the community are unable to work. We’ve been calling them to have discussions on the road and explore ways to repair it, but nothing has happened. So, we want to take action that will get their attention.”
Another resident mentioned that the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) has visited their area multiple times, but no concrete actions have been taken to improve the road.
They indicated, “Therefore, we are taking this action to send a clear message to the authorities.”
Meanwhile, one of the affected drivers urged the residents to demand accountability from the local assembly. He argued that the drivers already pay a levy for each trip, which is intended for road maintenance.
Therefore, they should not be held responsible for the poor state of the road.
He emphasised: “the road is very very bad. The contractor or government has to fix it and the government is taking money from us. We pay council tickets, GH30 per trip.
“So we the drivers are paying our quarter just to fix the roads for the people. So we don’t know why they don’t do it…So we are not here to destroy the road.”