Sekondi-Takoradi drivers damaging street light poles

When was the last time you walked on the Takoradi Kwesimintsim stretch of the dual carriageway at night. What about Tanokrom? Well, if you have been using these two roads, you may have observed one thing – the number of street light poles that have been knocked to the ground.

These street light poles which are not only to aid road users with visibility at night, but also for security, did not fall to the ground themselves.

Surprisingly, the over fifty street light poles on the roads in question have the majority knocked to the ground.

This is due to careless driving which has assumed a disturbing proportion in the Sekondi Takoradi metropolis.

Careless commercial trotro and taxi drivers are the main culprits in this display of indiscipline and impunity.

These drivers have not only succeeded in using their vehicles knock down innocent pedestrians, but street lights poles as well.

The sordid situation has gradually become the order of the day, where in less than a month a street light pole would be knocked down by a careless driver.

From the Kwame Nkrumah Roundabout to Lagos Town on the same stretch of dual carriage road in question, is the worst area, where most of the traffic light poles have been knocked to the ground by careless drivers.

The stretch of road, which has about thirty street light poles, has seen about 85% knocked down.

Lagos Town to the Kwesimintsim township also has about 70 % of the poles felled. What is more, Kwesimintsim town to Apremdo is mostly the stretch where most of the street lights were still standing, with only about 40% knocked down.

This situation is not peculiar to only street lights poles, but traffic lights as well.

A clear example is the traffic light at Kwesimintsim which has been knocked down as a result of careless driving.

The traffic light in question was knocked down a week ago, and is still on the ground as at the time of filing this story.

However, the rest of the street lights still standing were also not working.

The situation has been blamed on the damaging of the cables connecting each as a result of the destruction of the street light poles.

The majority of residents of the area who spoke on the subject matter expressed worry over the situation.

They expressed the belief that this is so because no punishment is meted out to those culpable.

One resident, who gave his name as Kwame Atta, told this file how he witnessed a taxi cab knock down one of the street light poles on the Kwesimintsim-Apremdu road, but was left off the hook.

“As I speak to you now, the street light pole is lying there, and no one bothers to make the driver pay for the cost.”

Nonetheless, some taxi and trotro drivers who this file spoke to admitted that they had accidentally been knocking down the street light poles, but could not be the only ones to be blamed.

One of the taxi drivers, who gave his name as Appiah, pointed out that private vehicle users could not be exonerated from blame.

For now, it has become obvious that the city authorities have closed their eyes to the situation, as no attempt were being made to either replace the knocked down poles, or fix them to function.

As a result, the road in question would continue to have no working street lights.