...As gov't rakes in GHc90million as road tolls in 3 years
...Motorists angry at officials criminal negligence

Yahaya Ibrahim is a vegetable farmer, who farms along the Tema-Accra motorway. He has seen many vehicles burst their tyres on the stretch of concrete paved road interspersed with dangerous potholes along his farm, several of them with disastrous consequences. Yahaya says on the average seven cars burst their tyres in a week on that stretch, and yet no one appears to care about what he rightly describes as death trap on the motorway.

The state of the motorway today can be described as criminal negligence of the highest order on the part of those responsible for its maintenance. The tolled highway whose annual collection is said to have increased by some 900%, following astronomical hikes in the rates (up to 1000%) in February 2010, has not seen any repairs in more than a decade.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, upon assumption of office served notice that it was going to undertake major repair works on the road. In fact, that was part of the explanation for the hikes in the tolls, but to date the only attempt at fulfilling that promise is to fill gaping holes in the concrete with bitumen.

Last Tuesday, our reporters counted as many as 541 potholes on the motorway. The Acccra-Tema side of the road has a total of 253 potholes, while the Tema to Accra stretch has a total of 288.

Besides, Public Agenda counted as many as 47 exposed iron rods, protruding from the concrete road, posing grave danger to motorists.

Our reporters also counted 85 potholes that were filled with bitumen which according to experts was not the appropriate material for filling a pothole on a concrete road.

The paper discovered that most of the bridges on the motorway are in bad shape. They either do not have parapets or what used to be, have been damaged thereby exposing motorists and pedestrians to danger.

Set against the fact that government is raking in an estimated GHc30 million from tolls and another GHc20 million in vehicle user fees annually since the February 2010 increases in road tolls, taxes and levies, the state of the motorway today raises more questions than answers.

Charles Kwame Boakye of the Institute for Infrastructure Development, Accra has said that based on traffic count data, expected revenues can be determined for each tolled station. "The Accra - Tema motorway currently has 36,000 vehicles plying daily comprising motor bikes - 1percent; cars - 47 percent; pickups and 4-wheel drives - 18 percent; light buses - 18 percent; heavy buses 3 percent; light and medium goods trucks - 9 percent; heavy goods trucks - 4 percent."

He adds : "current projections indicate that with the recent tariff adjustment Accra - Tema Motorway net revenues will increase from GHc62,000 per month to GHc600,000. The Road Fund should reap about GHc7 million from the motorway this year, up from the previously projected GHc0.75 million - a ten-fold increase. This analysis takes into consideration, operator's enhanced GHc100,000 recurrent expenditure, paid up front, and 10 percent operational losses, from exemptions, etc."

The Tolls Act exempts vehicles bearing official identification marks of the following institutions from paying road tolls: the armed forces, police, fire service, prisons, diplomatic missions on reciprocal basis, government and mission hospitals and the Ghana Red Cross Society.

Grave concerns During Public Agenda's expedition to the motorway, Aminu Iddrisu, a vulcanizer along the Tema motorway said in an interview that the carnages on the motorway are largely the result of the potholes on the motorway.

Having worked on the motorway for some years now, Mr Iddrisu said bursting of vehicle tyres was very common and has been the cause of the numerous accidents. According to him, most of the drivers who are unaware of the potholes are the victims of these accidents. "Upon seeing a pothole they try to avoid it and as a result they lose control of the steer and veer off the road."

He said he has seen a number of accidents on the motorway which he thought would have been avoided if the potholes had been filled.

Yahaya Ibrahim, the vegetable farmer, says it is through the power of God that he is still alive. He recounted that somewhere last year a friend of his who is also a vegetable farmer was nearly killed by the tyre of an articulated truck which fell into a pothole. He said the tyre including the rim got off the truck and headed straight towards the friend who was busily working on his vegetable farm but fortunately the friend lifted his head and saw the tyre coming and run for his life.

"This road is over 50 years and it needs maintenance. Where is the money the government is collecting from the drivers' Where is the money collected for road worthy certificates?" Ibrahim quizzed.

The government, he said, should come out and tell Ghanaians what the monies collected from the toll booths are being used for.

On his part, Mr Henry Quartey, a tanker driver who said he has plied the motorway for close t o 15 years bemoaned governments' negligence at solving the pothole problems on the motorway.

"What the government does is to charge exorbitant road tolls but cannot use the same tolls to maintain the roads; they will account for the deaths on the motorway one day. Why do we have to lose so many lives because of somebody's negligence? We need answers from the officials," he demanded.