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General News of Monday, June 3, 2019
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2019-06-03
Structures erected along the highway
Unauthorized settlements and slums along the Accra-Tema highway, badociated with the creation of illegal U-turns, have become a source of concern for long-distance motorists. from 19 kilometers.
This situation has led to a disregard for road traffic rules and the appearance of stagnant "pools" and piles of dirt along this stretch of road.
Slums, consisting of kiosks and metal containers, are concentrated in the area from the toll booth at the end of the Accra Expressway to the Community 18 junction in Tema.
Referred to as "kiosk domains", slums have become dens for thieves and other villains, some of whom sometimes go out of their cabins to steal from owners of vehicles that have broken down at night their valuables, including batteries. car.
According to claims by the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), locals are also responsible for the darkness on the road as they steal copper wires used to hook up electricity to street lights installed on the highway. in 2011.
Because of illegal settlements, trotros, taxis and motorcycles often stop at random to pick and drop pbadengers at will, although vehicles are not supposed to stop on the road.
And, most of the time, these commercial drivers report neither their stop nor their return on the road, which caused the fall of other vehicles.
Due to the lack of garbage disposal bins and toilets in the slums, the inhabitants throw garbage anyway and also do their needs in the bushes along the road.
Situation in slums
A tour of the shantytowns by the Daily Graphic also revealed that, even if the colonization was illegal, the structures were supplied with electricity and water.
There were also good commercial activities, such as the sale of alcohol, cigarettes, commodities, food and others.
Some of the slums have video centers, social parks and mini football pitches.
It was also determined that not all structures were located on government lands; some were located outside the highway reserve on private land.
In the KICC slum, named after the Kingsway International Christian Church (KICC), a community leader, Felix Adzakpa, claimed that the number of people residing there was more than 10,000.
"If you come here on a Sunday after the church, when almost all the residents will be at home, you will have a good idea of the number of people who live there, we are over 10,000," he said. declared.
He admitted that they had not gained land from any authority saying, "When we got here, the area was covered with brushwood … it was like a forest."
We cleaned the place and erected our structures. Later, the Ghana Electricity Company (ECG) provided us with electricity and the Ghana Water Company also connected water to this place, "said Adzakpa. .
According to him, some inhabitants of the slum had lived there for more than 10 years and the colony settled slowly over a period of 15 years.
He denied, however, that slums are safe havens for criminals and said the locals had helped the motorists.
Mr. Adzakpa said that every time a vehicle broke down on the highway, slum dwellers stood guard around the vehicle and its driver until it got them. mechanics services.
And when accidents happened, he added, residents provided support to the victims, some of whom sometimes rushed to the hospital.
"The only problem we have here is that people are smoking marijuana under the stars and it's bad," he said.
He urged the government not to evict them because they did not have alternative housing.
In another slum, known as "Trasacco" because of its proximity to the Trasacco Valley estates, a community leader, Gideon Mate, said the locals were ready to relocate whenever the need made it felt.
About-turn
Illegal U-turns on the highway have been the cause of many road accidents.
A walk along the stretch revealed dangerous turns of private and commercial vehicles.
There are about 40 bends and illegal lanes along the length of the road, the GHA blocking six of them with concrete blocks.
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