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Opinions of Saturday, 22 September 2007

Columnist: Bolus, Mercy Adede

What is happening to the road systems

What is happening to the road systems: - Ghana Highway Authority?

Has anyone travelled on this stretch of road lately Sogakope –Aflao road? Given the presence of police and customs officers around guarding the country against the smugglers, health and safety issues appears to be missing in strategic planning.
This stretch of road is a death trap. My question is whose responsibility is this though? Is it the young boys who put gravel and beg for money from the motorist in return for their good work or the Ghana Highway Authority?
Who is responsibility for the maintenance of this stretch of road? Who do one point fingers at? Please don’t tell me that it is the Highway Authority’s responsibility. There is a toll collection point as one enters into Sogakope Bridge but then, the question is where does such money go? Is it towards road safety campaigns and road maintenance? In fact, the small stretch of road where the toll collection point itself is positioned can be described as an accident trapped spot. The entire motorists try to dodge the potholes by driving recklessly to avoid them. The irony is that, high profile of personals also happily passed on this particular stretch of road and is failing to highlight these concerns to the media or the relevant authority! Are we sleeping or so dormant to challenge Ghana High Authority to live to our expectations.
Road constructions
Why should Ghana Highways Authority allow contractors to strip all our roads bear to the core leaving vehicles to use “red roads” hence having an impact on the road worthiness of their vehicles. Would it not be advisable to tar one road stretch of road at a time for vehicles to use, thus leaving the red roads free for “only the contractors to use”. We need to must emulate road construction from the expertise who have researched and therefore have the evidence of effective construction methods. This can be easily been done through secondary research.
Kumasi roads
Question for the Ghana Highway Authority-----Why do we have speed bumps on some highways, for example the on part of the Accra -Kumasi roads?
Accra Roads
Many of the roads in main city are death trap spots! Has the Ghana Highway Authority considered having a solar power traffic light system at all our major roundabout and other strategic areas given the history of our electricity supplies system?
Have we considered using solar power streetlights throughout the country to enhance our communities?
Towns and Villages
In some towns and villages that really need road roads feeder roads are still in use, why? Do we have strategic plans, which spells out the improvements of all our roads with time frame which would compile any subsequent Government to follow the strategic plans of infrastructure until completion as various Governments come and go, however, it is the farmers whose lives are at stake here. Our farmers are hard working group. We all know that given the way our farmers work they are unable to build their roads or improve feeder roads. They work day and night in terrible living conditions in order to ensure we are feed us and keep us alive. Yet we are failing them by not exposing them to the modern way of farming the technology which is currently available. Let’s say, for example, solar power technology and others. These farmers could make effective use of solar power technology on their farms in storing of the produce. Providing solar Power Streetlight at least would alleviate some of their problems. They would then give something back into the community by contributing towards road maintenance.
Is Ghana @ 50 currently or @ 0, based on 1957 just after independence?
Why have we as nation put up with such nonsense? Our farmers are not vocal enough: less educated to demand their rights as compared to farmers in other countries who are ripping benefits as farmers are. Why should our farmers suffer so much? Is our Highway Authority helping with the process of our food chain by providing better road systems? Where does our toll money go one may ask?
Every day the road accident death toll rises. However, Ghana Highway Authority is not sued for such gross negligence in the way of health and safety issues. Do we have a Road Safety Act, which we could refer to ensure the Ghana Highway Authority live to expectations? Fellow Ghanaians we should not just assumed that things would be done. On the positive side, there have been much progress made throughout the country, however, the inequalities we see in road improvement in some cities, towns and villages can simply be ignored by anyone. Would it be better to finish one road completely before starting on another? Currently, there are just too many halfway road constructions going on. Who is co-ordinating this half way projects?
Many of the roads in our regions are not first class, yet most of our tomatoes, cocoa, sheabutter, etc comes from villages along these areas which is less access and less desirable for motorists to navigate on. There need to be uniformity when it comes to road safety issues across the board. I’m sure that we do have one standard Highway Code book to adhere to. Where do our less able bodied stand when it comes to road safety? Do they have access to all the facilities we the baled bodied take for granted? Are their needs also part of our agenda?
Let have a walk along our High Street at the Airport as we enter into the country, what do we see, could it be argued that we care less about these group when it comes to health and safety issues? How come we are seeing a significant number of the less able bodied citizens begging in wheel chairs at the country’s International Airports? What does these scenes speak of us as a nation? What have we done so far to encourage independent living perhaps?
Whose responsibility is it when it comes to road safety? Is it the young boys who miss out on school to ensure our road safety or Ghana Highway Authority?
Unless we become selfless when it comes to the community developments and improvements we would never succeed as a nation. These measures would ensure a healthy and wealthy population and we, as a nation would all laugh together instead of laughing at people instead of pitying our fellow citizens in such plight. . Our Government alone can’t address all our community needs.
We may need to seriously engaged the business community into the community development negotiating table and work in partnership deals for example, social responsibility initiatives for community development, sponsored walk and other activities thus focusing on community developments.
It would be very encouraging for any given Government to work in with partnership with the people thus empowering people to be independent using various strategies. Farmers, who have also struggled in the past in the developed world, are currently are enjoying and thanks to their Governments to creating such an environment to ensure that healthy and safety issues are enforced. As such these strategic planning have enhance and improved their standard of living in those countries, whereas our lot are still suffering and languishing in poverty resulting in their children to fall through the educational net. These children sadly are failing to reach their potential. What does the future holds for such children. Would it be a Bleak one or a more Promising in the near future?
To succeed like any other country our priority must be a strategic planning of the infrastructure of our motherland, as without this ethos we would not have any foundation to stand on.



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