Road accidents are fast taking over the top position as the major cause of death in the Ashanti region. For the first half of 2003 (January - June) a total of 205 people died through road accidents.

The figure is more than that of 2001 and 2002 over the same period. In 2001 for example, the total number of deaths from road accident recorded throughout the year was 234, while that of 2002 was 228.

These statistics were released by the Ashanti regional commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana police service, chief superintendent Augustine Gyening, when he met with stakeholders in the transport sector in the region in Kumasi.

Present at the meeting were officials form the various transport unions, sand and stone haulage drivers association, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Highways, urban roads and the Timber millers association.

The regional commander blamed the current alarming rate of road accidents on the high rate of driver indiscipline and the reluctance of vehicle owners to maintain their vehicles regularly.

He cited instances where people with 'B1' driver's license are caught driving commercial vehicles in violation of the laws on driving.

It is high time the various transport unions helped the police in their efforts to restore sanity on our roads," Gyening advised.

The MTTU Commander cautioned taxi and trotro drivers within the Kumasi metropolis to drive within the approved speed limits to minimize the risk of accidents.

Participants from the various transport unions accused personnel of the MTTU of extorting monies from drivers without executing the job for which they are kept on the roads.

They appealed to FM stations in Kumasi to allocate time to educate the public on issues related to road safety.

Meanwhile the lives of passengers who travel on the Kumasi-Techiman highway are at risk as heavy-duty trucks continue to park recklessly on either side of the road, only a few kilometers outside the Kumasi Metropolis.

It means along a particular stretch of the road where the vehicles are parked, almost half of the road is covered, leaving a narrow path for cars to and from Kumasi.

Recently, the inherent danger of such reckless parking was brought to the fore when a school bus belonging to Sekondi College was involved in a fatal accident when it ran into a stationary trailer resulting in the death of five passengers on the college bus.

Prior to the accident, callers to various radio stations in Kumasi had expressed their anger at the apparent indifference of the police towards the wrongful parking of the heavy trucks in the metropolis.

The police were accused of only concentrating on offences committed by taxi drivers and drivers of other commercial mini-buses while drivers of the heavy trucks continue to perpetrate anti-road safety offences with impunity.

A few days after the accident involving the Sekondi College bus, the police managed to clear the big trucks off the road and threatened to deal severely with any driver found to have wrongfully parked along the road.

Barely a month on, the trucks are back along the roads and nothing seems to be happening to them.

Many people are now wondering whether the Ashanti Region police command is waiting for another disaster to strike before they go into action.

The Ashanti regional commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), Chief Superintendent Augustine Gyening, said the police are ill equipped to tow the heavy trucks from the roads.

The regional MTTU command is however liaising with the Regional Transport Commission and the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to construct a permanent parking space for the heavy-duty trucks in the metropolis.