There is chaos on the main Madina-Adentan highway as residents have blocked the road after a speeding vehicle knocked down another pedestrian on that stretch.
Over a hundred people are said to have been knocked down on the stretch since the beginning of 2018 due to the lack of footbridges and faulty traffic lights.
Citi News’ Fred Djabanor reported that the lady who was knocked down on Thursday afternoon is believed to be a student of the West African Senior High School, WASS, who was returning home after school.
Djabanor said the residents, who were angered about the situation, blocked the road and burnt tyres to prevent any car from moving on that stretch.
“The police have started firing shots to disperse the protesters. The protesters are very angry because a few minutes ago a lady was knocked down by a speeding vehicle. They are angry because this has been happening for some time now. The protesters are not barging although the police fired warning shots in a bid to disperse the crowd,” he said.
Some of the protesters who spoke to Citi News said they are agitating because “we don’t want to allow this to happen again. This has been happening since Monday and we can’t be receiving the assurance that it shall be well and yet people are being knocked down every day.”
“If the government does not do anything about it, we are not going to allow anyone to use this road,” another protester said.
Fred Djabanor also said the protesters say they are not opening the road until something is done about the situation.
Background
The residents have been protesting the lack of footbridges on the road saying they will embark on a demonstration next week over the unavailability of footbridges on the highway.
There was some chaos on the Adenta-Oyarifa road last Friday evening as some residents of Adenta Barrier staged a demonstration to demand the construction of footbridges.
The protest was sparked after a resident was killed in a hit-and-run incident that same evening.
Another pedestrian knocked down by a speeding truck
A middle-aged woman was also feared dead after a KIA truck knocked her down at Fire Stone on the Madina – Adenta – Aburi Highway earlier this week.
The residents say they live in fear of being knocked down any time on the highway due to the absence of footbridges to ensure safe movement of pedestrians from one side to the other on the road.
The contractor for Madina-Adenta footbridges to resume work in 3 months – Boniface
The Member of Parliament for Madina, Alhaji Boniface Saddiq Abubakar, earlier this week said the Ministry of Roads and Highways is in talks with the contractor of the Madina-Adenta highway to return to the site and complete construction of the footbridges.
Saddiq Abubakar said the contractor will return to the site following the payment of arrears owed him.
“Apparently the contract was not canceled. But unfortunately, NDC was not dealing with the contractor because they were not making payments to the contractor and so he had to withdraw his services. But when we came back and started discussions, I took the matter to Cabinet when I was the minister for Inner Cities and Zongo Development. I had a series of discussions with the minister who has been helpful. Finally, it was accepted by the president in Cabinet that we must renew the contract and ensure that the contractor goes back to the site and completes the project,” he added in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday.
Police deployed to maintain order on Adenta-Madina-Aburi road
The Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, subsequently instructed the Greater Accra regional MTTD command to deploy more men to the Adenta-Madina-Aburi road to check over speeding and other road offenses.
Director General of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, COP Christian Tetteh Yohuno, who was speaking at the opening ceremony of a ten-day training program for accident investigators and prosecutors made this known.
“We entreat the Regional Commander of the MTTD to position some men on that highway to check over speeding. At least that will be a temporary measure we can adopt now.”
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin