Bad roads: Kpone to Tema passengers stranded after rains

Many passengers in Kpone commuting to Tema say whenever it rains, getting commercial vehicles to their destinations from the town was difficult due to the terrible nature of the roads.

According to the passengers, who were spotted by the Ghana News Agency dejected by the roadsides waiting to join a commercial vehicle after some days of rains, it was a normal occurrence for them to wait for hours for vehicles after the rains making them stranded.

They added that, since the onset of the rains, drivers plying Kpone to Tema had refused to ply the TOR-Kpone stretch due to its deplorable nature, saying their joy after the sod cutting to reconstruct it into a two-lane concrete road had been cut short since it had not materialized after more than ten months.

They also added that due to ongoing construction works at the Kpone barrier, the commercial vehicles who choose to convey them to Tema through that place often got stuck in traffic for hours, therefore not able to return for more passengers.

“This is not the first time. Since the rains started, we’ve been going through this challenge for some time now, I’m begging the authorities to fix the roads,” Madam Linda Asiedu said.

“I’ve been standing here for about 40 minutes now, no car is willing to take us to Tema, I don’t know why the main road linking Tema to Kpone will be left to this state, the authorities need to wake up,” Ms Joyce Teye said.

“Some drivers deliberately pack their cars whenever it rains and if I'm a driver, I’ll do same, look at the roads, it’s as if Kpone is not part of Ghana,” Mr Kingsley Nartey said.

Some of the Kpone-Tema drivers in an interaction with the Ghana News Agency said the nature of the roads did not make it easy for them to quickly move to Kpone and back.

They said passengers were more than the cars available, which had resulted in most of the passengers getting stranded in Kpone.

They said they had called on the authorities several times to do the roads but nothing had been done.

“We are working but because the roads are bad, we take our time driving, otherwise the cars will spoil, the roads are too bad, the authorities have to fix it, I even close around 16:00 hours,” Michael Laweh, a driver said.