Chiefs threaten to block Accra-Hohoe road

Accra, Sept 7, GNA - The people of Nyangbo in the Hohoe District are planning to demonstrate on Monday, September 11, 2006 to fell trees to block the Hohoe - Accra Road that runs through the town.

The action is to draw attention to the frequent fatal motor accidents that have been occurring in the town for years now and is partly attributable to the dangerous nature of the road which was full of sharp and tortuous curves.
Torgbui Asafoatse Kutor, Chief of the Youth of Nyangbo-Gagbefe, said fatal motor accidents occurred in the town leading to the death of six people while about three people were maimed.

He said three months ago a truck loaded with yams and travelling from Hohoe direction to Accra went off the road in a sharp curve and plunged into a house killing a couple and their three months old baby who were sleeping at night.
A visibly grieving and angry chief Asafoatse Kutor swore to do everything possible and by any means possible to prevent vehicles from killing their people.
He warned that he and his people were ready for any person, who would interfere with their attempt to safeguard their safety. Togbe Kutor had told the Member of Parliament for the area to forget about development projects if they would all be killed by vehicles.
'What is the need of a school if our children are killed on their way to the school?' he asked.
Mr Joseph Amenowode, Member of Parliament of Hohoe South, confirming the reports to the Ghana News Agency said he had taken up the matter with the Minister of Transportation and that the issue was receiving attention for road signs to be fixed on the road before any major diversion of the road could be done.
He said the Kpeve - Hohoe section of the Accra 96 Hohoe Highway was one road that recorded at least two serious accidents a month and yet no serious attention was given to it either by the Highways Authorities or the Ministries concerned.
Over the years, the communities along the Highway have recorded many deaths including school children, youth and the old. Mr Amenowode recalled that the most affected community was the Nyagbo area and the latest incidents included the killing of people sleeping in their room; the killing of an elderly female linguist of Nyangbo-Odumase and 93just this Monday the 4th of September, the killing of an elderly man by a motorcyclist at Gagbefe drew the anger of the people and I had to talk them=94.
He said other areas of high fatality were Logba, where a primary school child was crushed into pulp in March this year and at Ve Koloenu being a community that had a tall list of the dead and the maimed. According to the MP, there were two possible causes of the accidents and the primary cause was the negligence of the Highways Department to provide road signs and speed control mechanisms on the road, which was characterized by stretches of straight roads interspersed with sharp curves.
First time road users therefore find it difficult to drive and most often end up in accidents.
The second cause is the usual driver negligence, whereby drivers refused to reduce speed in residential communities. Mr Amenowode said simple solution would be to provide proper road signs denoting curves, bumpy sections and speed limits. Speed control ramps and other mechanisms as was done in Apeguso in the Akwamu area in the Eastern Region and Frankadua must be constructed to save lives, he said. When the Ghana News Agency contacted Mr Eric Oduro-Konadu, Chief Executive of Ghana Highway Authority, he said he was immediately sending experts of the Authority to study the situation and find solution to the problem. 7 Sept. 06