General News of Tuesday, 6 November 2018

Source: thepublisheronline.com

Madina-Adenta residents living in fear as car kills woman

Residents around Madina-Adenta are demanding for footbridges to help prevent accidents Residents around Madina-Adenta are demanding for footbridges to help prevent accidents

A middle-aged woman is feared dead after a KIA truck knocked her down at Fire Stone on the Madina – Adenta – Aburi Highway.

This comes barely 72 hours since the death of a 33-year-old woman on the same highway at Adenta SDA Junction.

According to an eyewitness, after the deceased was knocked, she was left on the road more than one hour, though police personnel arrived at the scene very early, they did not pick her on the road in good season.

A situation which angered and compelled the residents to block the highway by burning motor tyres at both sides to register their displeasure over how dangerous crossing Adenta-Madina dual carriage highway has become and claiming lives of their beloveds on daily basis.

It took joint military and police personnel who were deployed to maintain peace and order at the scene to calm the angry residents, quenched the fire and paved way for vehicular movement.

A resident by name Nana lamented his ordeal as, they are living in fear because they cannot cross the road as there are no footbridges, streets lights and traffic lights too are not functional.

“This is not the first time, is not the second time… We cannot cross as there are no street lights and traffic lights… We are leaving in fear”

The residents alleged, several complaints were made, but to no avail. The authorities turn deaf ears to their plights as they continue dying everyday.

Meanwhile, on 29th October, 2018 the residents of Adenta, Ritz junction, Madina and its environs at a town hall meeting gave government two weeks ultimatum to register their displeasure over the six uncompleted footbridges on Adenta-Madina highway.

Most of the residents were clad in red T-Shirts, with the phrase: #fixourfootbridgesnow, written in front and back, signifying their readiness to use all legal means to get the footbridges completed.

Background

The dual carriage highway linking Madina and Adentan in the north-eastern part of Accra to the capital and the western parts of the country through the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange remains uncompleted.

The 5.6-kilometre road has delayed for about 10 years, as footbridges designed to ferry pedestrians safely across the speedways were abandoned in the course of the project’s execution.

The hanging footbridges mean thousands of people, especially children, risk getting knocked down by speeding vehicles on a daily basis.

Investigation carried out by Adom News in July this year, revealed the government of Ghana owes the China Water and Electrical Construction Limited, the company contracted to build the road, $45m and GHC 80m.

The cost is in respect of the Adenta road and some other construction works elsewhere in the country.

Member of Parliament for Madina, Boniface Abubakar Saddique, who doubles as minister of state in the office of Vice president promised the government, will pay the outstanding contract cost by October this year,

October has already passed and nothing has been done on the project.

Motorists and residents who ply the road say the situation poses a daily danger to their lives and have called for an immediate response to the challenge.