Non-functioning traffic lights - Death traps in Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipality

The newly created Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly (EKMA) has got its challenges as a new assembly, however, the most precarious and dangerous one is the non-functioning traffic lights in the municipality.

The EKMA was carved out of the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly less than a year ago.

Earlier last month there was a fatal motor traffic accident on the Assakae junction close to the Obiri Lotteries building in Kwesimintsim which claimed six lives. This accident happened on the Nkroful Junction and the Apremdo Apollo Junction highway which was constructed during the NDC 2 administration.

The spot where the accident happened is a major four-junction intersection and urgently needs traffic lights to be installed to control the heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The area is full of human activities with lots of businesses on both sides of the highway.

It is sad to note that since the highway was completed the Ghana Highway Authority has blatantly refused to install traffic lights at this major intersection, while rampant motor traffic accidents keep on occurring at the spot.

Apart from the above mentioned intersection, all the traffic lights within the municipality are not functioning with the exception of the Apremdo Apollo junction traffic lights which are not even reliable.

The traffic lights at the Kwesimintsim Roman Catholic junction, and Effiakuma-Effia four-junction have never functioned for more than twenty-four hours continuously since they were installed over 20 years ago and these road intersections are always busy with both human and motor traffic.

The traffic lights at the Kwesimintsim Police Station Junction are functioning on “tot-tot” basis, on and off.

The Western Regional Directorate of the Ghana Highways Authority and Urban Roads keep looking on sheepishly whilst innocent lives are being lost and people are being maimed through motor traffic accidents without making any effort to install traffic lights at the Obiri junction and at the same time refusing to ensure that the existing ones in the municipality are working.

All efforts made by the Assembly members in the area to draw the attention of officials of Ghana Highways Authority and Urban Roads have fallen on deaf ears.

Do we need 100 years Chinese loan before installing traffic lights and also ensuring that existing ones are operational?

Again it is disheartening to always put the blame on politicians when something goes bad in the state of affairs when public and civil servants who are paid to perform their duties fail to so.

Very soon residents of the EKMA will match to the offices of the Western Regional Directorates of the Ghana Highways Authority and Urban Rods to keep the officers assigned to install and maintain traffic lights on their toes.

We are fed up with the lackadaisical attitude and lack of sense of duty exhibited by officers of government agencies who are being paid with the taxpayers’ money. At the end of the month they don’t refuse to go to the bank to cash their salaries, but when it comes to the performance of the duties as public and civil servants, they sleep on the job.

Enough is enough. The traffic lights in the EKMA must be in perfect working order, and also there must be traffic lights installed at the Kwesimintsim-Assakae-Obiri junction as soon as possible.

We don’t want to make reference to what happened on the Adentan-Medina Highway in Accra but when our patience grows pale…….. A word to a wise is enough.