March 03, GNA-The commercial drivers plying the road linking the Fiapre roundabout and Berlin-top, a suburb of Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality have expressed concern about the number of unauthorised speed ramps constructed on that stretch
They have therefore appealed to the Police to ensure the removal of those speed ramps as a matter of public interest and threatened that if action was not taken as soon as possible, they might withdraw their services.
The drivers made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Berlin-top, saying some residents who lived along the road had constructed those speed ramps without the approval of the road authorities.
They bemoaned the speed ramps were poorly constructed and therefore destroying their vehicles.
According to them the perpetrators used materials such as huge lumbers and big stones for the ramps, adding the most serious aspect of it was that they did not erect signpost to indicate the presence of speed ramps ahead to alert particularly new drivers on the road to take heed to save them from involving in accidents.
The drivers further complained the ramps impeded not only their responses to urgent situations such as taking people to hospitals for emergency treatment but also the Ghana National Fire Service to attend to cases of fire outbreaks at Berlin-top and its environs.
Madam Martha Ankamah, a resident of Berlin-top in an interview with the GNA contended the ramps causing some of the road users waist pains, some of the drivers also over-speed causing dust pollution.
“Consequently, the situation is a great health hazard because pedestrians and those trading alongside the road are inhaling dust which can give them respiratory diseases,” Mad. Ankamah added.
She further argued it was never the fault of those who constructed the ramps in front of their shops because that road under reconstruction by a Chinese company had not been tarred or asphalted and the project had come to a halt since December last year without explanation to the public by the authorities.
“So, we are inhaling dust every day and no commitment has been shown by the authorities to complete the road,” Mad. Ankamah said and pleaded with the Sunyani West Municipal Assembly to regularly water the road to control the dust pollution which was the underlying factor for the construction of the illegal ramps.
When contacted, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Stephen Tenkorang, the Bono Regional Commander of the Motto Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) cautioned those engaged in erecting the unauthorised speed ramps to stop to avoid arrest and prosecution.
He said the best thing for those residents suffering from dust pollution to do was to complain to the Department of Urban Roads to ensure “the appropriate thing is done to prevent accidents.”
GNA
