Correspondence from the Western Region

The Ewusiejo-Takoradi road in the Western Region continues to be blocked for the fourth day giving okada and pragya riders more time to cash in.

Commuters are at the mercy of these riders as they charge any amount of their choice, knowing that the commuters have no option.

Hundreds of travellers have been left stranded, for the past four days, on the Ewusiejoe stretch of the Agona Nkwanta to Takoradi road in the Western Region.

This is a result of an Ivorian-bound cargo truck that fell into a rut on the road at Ewusiejoe in the Ahanta West Municipal Assembly and could not come out of it.

The truck broke down, perhaps, due to the continuous attempts to come out of the rut. As a result, hundreds of vehicles at both ends of the road have been locked up leaving scores of passengers stranded.

Commuters who are in a hurry for meetings and other businesses either have to use the service of Okada or Pragya to beat the traffic and take a different vehicle to their destination.

The riders charge between ten cedis to twenty cedis to transport stranded commuters to the other side of the traffic.

An okada rider who transported GhanaWeb's correspondent in the region, Thomas Tetteh and one other from the Agona end of the traffic to Bokoro charged ten Ghana cedis each.

He said "I charged ten cedis because you were two. If it was only one, I would have charged twenty cedis per head."

He told GhanaWeb, "We the okada and pragya riders have made a lot of money for the past four days and we will continue to make it until there is a free flow of traffic. Because you are stranded, any amount I charge, you will pay. I worked throughout yesterday."

Some of the stranded commuters were worried about the continuous neglect of the Takoradi to Agona Nkwanta stretch of the road by the government.

One of them, Steven Mensah said, "This road is always blocked but authorities have turned deaf ears to this. When at all will this stop?"

The roadblock has caught the attention of members of the Ghana Journalists Association in the Western Region, who are speaking about it on various media platforms to draw the government's attention to it for immediate action.

The Association issued a statement calling on the government to see what has happened as another call on it by the people of Ahanta West and by extension Western Region to look for a more permanent solution to the Takoradi to Agona Nkwanta Road.

The journalists also urged the Ahanta West Municipal Assembly, the Western Region Coordinating Council and companies on the Takoradi to Agona Nkwanta road to as a matter of necessity work together to address the situation immediately, as it will be unfortunate for lives and properties to be lost before we see any concrete action being taken.