Ashaiman riots: Roads minister, others should be fired – Consultant

Transport consultant Cecil Garbrah has said all those who have reneged on their responsibilities in respect of the construction of the Ashaiman roads must be sacked.

The dismissal, he said should start from the top – that is the minister responsible for roads- right down to officials at the urban roads.

His comments come after angry drivers and youth blocked major entry and exit routes to the Ashaiman Municipality of Accra, Monday morning.

The youth also seized the toll booths and made away with cash and other valuables and burnt tires.

The demonstration was to get city authorities to fix the bad state of the roads in Ashaiman.

Speaking on Joy FM's Top Story, the transport consultant said Ashaiman is a major economic factor in the City because it provides 50% of meat consumed in Accra and holds a population of 300,000.

He said it now took 45 minutes to travel a stretch of road which previously took 15 minutes.

He added somebody ought to be made responsible for this poor state of affairs at Ashiaman.

Cecil Garbrah said it was likely that funds would have been earmarked for the project and wondered why the road has still not been constructed.

If funds have been provided and yet the road remains deplorable then, starting from the top, the minister of Roads and Highways ought to be fired, he suggested.

Garbrah said the Teshie road is also suffering a similar state of neglect and alerted authorities to direct their attention to this road to forestall a repeat of violent demonstrations by residents there.

The Municipal Chief Executive of Ashaiman, Numo Adinotey Addison, said construction of the road has started.

He blamed the slow pace of the construction of the road to the centralised nature of the local government system.

According to him, the threshold in developing that stretch of road is beyond the capacity of the Municipal Assembly and yet the Central Government, which has to fund the construction of the road, is faced with limited funds.

He said if the Assemblies had been decentralised they would have been able to raise monies for the completion of the project.

He noted, however, that work has started fervently and will be completed in no time.