Residents are calling on authorities to find a lasting solution to the problem
Correspondence from Upper East Region
The traffic lights around the MTN office in Bolgatanga, in the Upper East Region, have been dysfunctional since January.
It had always been a case of them getting fixed, and breaking down shortly after fixation.
The situation has caused a lot of accidents within that stretch of the road, and has claimed lives.
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Some commuters spoke to GhanaWeb's Upper East Regional Correspondent, Sarah Dubure.
A commuter, Mr. Dave Ayine, asserted that the situation has forced road users to move at top speed from both sides of the road.
"Because the traffic light is not there, everybody is just moving. Those emerging from the Estate side feel that they are on the main road and no one is supposed to cross them. If the traffic is there, those from the OA side will reduce their speed, but because the traffic is not there, everybody coming feels that they are on a highway", he noted.
He recalled an incident where a trailer collided with a motor king, killing the driver of the motor king instantly.
He observed that the accident was due to overspeeding, and added that it would not have occurred if the traffic lights were working.
Mr. Ayine noted that anytime they tried finding out why the traffic lights were not worked on, they were always told the engineer who worked on them, was based somewhere other than Bolgatanga.
"Anytime we ask to know why the traffic lights are not working, what they say is that the engineer who can work on them is not based here. We don't know whether he is in Tamale, Accra, we don't know," He said.
He further noted that anytime they broke down, it took a long time for them to get fixed, after which they broke down shortly.
"It usually takes a very long time for them to fix after which it gets faulty again. We will have to manage until he becomes free and comes to fix it again," he stated.
He suggested they employed the services of engineers resident in Bolgatanga, for the sake of convenience, anytime the traffic lights break down.
"Why can't they train electricians in Bolga here? There are a lot of electricians here. Richmanda, Extee and other. They are many. They can pick up any of them and train them so that anytime there is an issue, they can quickly sort it out." He pointed.
Alhaji Suleman also lamented that the situation had made crossing the road hectic as one could not determine the movement of an oncoming vehicle.
"If you want to cross, it is hard because you don't determine when a vehicle will stop or not," he pointed.
He suggested that if they fixed the traffic lights, it would drastically bring the situation under control, as commuters would be regulated to do the needful.
"No control, so just free like that. If they leave us to be going like that, you know some will be patient, and others will not be patient. They want to move fast, but if there is traffic, by all means, they will stop", he added.
He appealed for the traffic lights to be fixed, as many lives and properties have been lost due to the situation.
"They should try and fix it well otherwise, we lose lives and other things. A lot of people have died".
Another commuter, Mr. Anthony Anamolga, also complained about the rate at which people lost their lives through accidents, due to the lack of regulation.
He also recounted an instance where a terrible accident occurred there, due to the lack of regulation of speed, as the traffic lights were not functioning.
"Not long ago, a car at top speed collided with a Mahama Can Do(tricycle), someone in the Can Do died and they had to quickly rush a woman who was also inside it to Tamale, it was a serious accident," he recalled.
Mr. Anamolga appealed for the traffic lights to be fixed in order to preserve lives.
