Occupy Ghana adds it voice to the Madina Adenta situation

Pressure group OccupyGhana® has added its voice to the Madina Adeta situation saying it is “alarmed” at the spate of pedestrian deaths on the Tetteh Quarshie-Adentan Highway (N4) in Accra due to the unavailability of safe crossing facilities on the road.

The latest fatality, in which a first-year female student of West Africa Senior High School (WASS) was killed, becomes the 194th reported death on the Madina-Adentan Highway this year.

OccupyGhana® said in a statement that it “joins the nation in grieving with the bereaved families of the deceased”.

The incident, which caused angry residents to set ablaze car tyres to register their protest to the government, is “deeply regrettable and avoidable had the government been proactive in arresting the situation sooner”, OG said.

It added: “OccupyGhana® is surprised that after 11 years of construction of the highway, none of the footbridges have been completed, thus, making it unsafe for pedestrians to cross the multiple lane highway. It is expected that footbridges, which form the integral safety of pedestrians, must be constructed before the commissioning of any highway.

“OccupyGhana® is disappointed in the slow reaction of the Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Roads and Highways, and the Ghana Highways Authority in handling this issue, thus, causing the loss of a reported 194 lives. The mentioned authorities have not taken and safety measures to save the lives of innocent Ghanaians crossing our roads. We, however, acknowledge the government’s statement in dealing with the situation and we will hold them to it”, the group said.

OccupyGhana has proposed the following immediate solutions to be implemented in curbing the carnage on the Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta Highway (N4):

1. Effective immediately, rumble strips should be constructed on the long stretch of road beginning from the University of Ghana to the Pantang end of the highway to reduce the unnecessary speeding of drivers.

2. The government should replace all faulty traffic lights that have been faulty with modern and solar powered controlled traffic lights. Further to this, extra traffic lights with toucan crossing system must be fixed to allow free flow of traffic.

3. Public education must be extended to the schools in educating the public on safe crossing of the highway by the National Road Safety Commission. The Road Traffic laws must be implemented to arrest drivers and pedestrians who flout the regulations of speeding and Jay walking respectively.

4. Officials of the MTTD of the Ghana Police must be on duty round the clock to control the traffic situation till all works are completed on the repair and installation of the traffic lights and rumble streets.

5. The government must provide adequate road signs and markings along this stretch, as well as reflectors fixed on the kerbs. Marked crosswalks where pedestrians have priority over vehicular traffic e.g. zebra crossings should be provided

6. The government should fix all streetlights along the corridor and ensure they are maintained.

OccupyGhana® said it is concerned about road safety measures on other highways, most especially the N1 highway that is also claiming a lot of lives.

The “government should apply these same measures on the N1 highway”.