There is a new breath of life on the hitherto confusion-riddled Accra central roads. The pavements, which had served as parking lots for recalcitrant drivers, are now for pedestrians only. Personnel of the MTTU are on the look out for errant drivers to slap them with on-the-spot fines.

The action by personnel of the unit comes in the wake of the re- organisation of the Police hierarchy that saw the retirement of top personnel who served past their stipulated terms and were on contract. Currently the morale of personnel is at an all-time high.

The confidence reposed by the Kufuor administration in the Police has gone a long way in motivating them to give of their best in the face of limited resources. When The Accra Mail visited some areas notorious for wrong parking, some order was visible. The on-the-spot fine system after four days in operation had hauled in over seven million cedis from 123 defaulting drivers. The cars are clamped, the drivers pay their fine and get a receipt and then they are allowed to leave.

The Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) had a 'contractor' superior officer heading it until the directive from the Police administration asking officers in his category to proceed on leave prior to retirement. It was amazing how the service came to have such a large number of officers on contract.

Mr. S.K. Appiah, the former MTTU boss like many of his colleagues lived on borrowed time as head of the unit. He replaced Mr. Mustapha Garba who was posted to the Volta Region as the regional commander where he served briefly before returning to Accra as the Greater Accra regional commander. He too was on contract.

During Mr. Appiah's tenure things really got out of hand as regards road discipline in the city of Accra. The unit, among others, was mentioned in a survey report on corruption in the country for taking bribes.

As if the personnel of the unit were waiting for Mr. Appiah to make his exit, they swung into action making one wonder whether his presence had a role in their previous lackadaisical approach to work. Now, they are working seriously and 'bad drivers' are not having things easy at all these days.

The man who has taken over the reins of running the MTTU is Mr. Hamidu Mahama. He told The Accra Mail some of his plans for commercial drivers who drive unprofessionally. "I intend organising more refresher classes for them, with a view to refining their driving skills which you would agree with me is not the best." He said his unit is exploring the possibility of liaising with the GPRTU and the Cooperative Transport Owners so that these classes can be taken more seriously and more frequently than they are now. This and the strict application of the law would certainly change things on our roads, he assured.

Trotro drivers are known to have a penchant for insulting other road users especially private car owners and this too his unit would do something about.

He mentioned a fresh case of a 90-year-old man, Nana Kwagyira who was insulted by a commercial driver when he argued with him over where he dropped him off. The offended old man reported the matter to the MTTU and according to Mr. Mahama the case is being looked into.

Motor Traffic management is a specialised function and over the years organisations like the World Bank and the UN Economic Commission for Africa have shown interest in enhancing it through courses to update personnel involved in this sector with new skills. In 1990 for instance the World Bank organised a Motor Traffic Enforcement Course.

In other areas the Ghana Police Service is not doing badly at all. In the face of limited resources they have been able to suppress the armed robbers and the night patrols are being carried out with such gusto that one cannot fail to appreciate the importance of motivation in running a public institution like the Police Service.

For now, the traffic situation has improved tremendously and it is yet to be seen whether this would be maintained or whether it is going to be a 9-day wonder, even though from the look of things the MTTU is poised to carry on. If you park wrongly and see a traffic cop approaching beware, he could be coming to charge you on the spot!