As a woman in her late forties, I haven’t quite gotten to the point of struggling with stair climbing yet, but I am getting close. My reminder came when I witnessed another woman perhaps a decade older than myself managing the unenviable task of climbing the stairs with two carry-on suitcases to the departure hall at our only international airport.

Thank God Ghanaian hospitality was in full display as some young men helped her carry her luggage. But she could have received even better help if her tax dollars (because she said she paid for her tickets in dollars) had been used to repair the escalator right next to her, which has been “out of order” for close to three years.

It is simply ridiculous for the only escalator at Kotoka International Airport to be broken and neglected for that long period of time when one hears of monies wasted in less important areas. An escalator as well as the shamefully dirty and unkept easing facilities at the entrance to the same departure hall, are necessities, not luxury. Thus for the authorities at the gateway to our country to so neglect the basic maintenance of these facilities smacks of total misplacement of priorities and sheer incompetence.

Even more silly is the proposed plan to build a second international airport in the Prampram area when simple maintenance of the existing one has become a challenge. If we cannot improve our maintenance culture, why are we in a rush to always build new things that we cannot maintain? What exactly does it take to repair a 20 or so-flight escalator? Should we place a contributing box next to it and dub it the “Escalator Repair Fund” for private individuals to fund its repair?

This particular broken escalator, along with the restrooms upstairs at the entrance to the departure hall represents a total embarrassment to the managing body of Kotoka International Airport, and I call on it to do something about them with immediate effect. Our tax money should work for once.