Commuters were left stranded yesterday with several others stuck in an unbearable traffic congestion at Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region during a “fix our roads demo” protest organised by drivers and some residents in the municipality.
The protest was not without an incident, when a policeman suffered a head injury from a stone pelted by unknown persons, following a misunderstandings with the police about the routes to use by the protesters.
With blood oozing from his head, the injured policeman was rushed to the Dar-bem Clinic in the Ashaiman Municipality for treatment.
One of the organisers of the protest, Abdallah Iddrisu, told the journalists that he was convinced that some irresponsible persons “were planted into the crowd” by some faceless persons to attack the police to bring the reputation of the organisers and the subject of the protest into disrepute.
He said the incident was unfortunate and condemnable and was not supposed to happen.
He said an ultimatum of two months had been given to the government to fix the roads or another demonstration would be organised to carry their messages across.
The Deputy Tema Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Laar Baman, expressed disappointment about the attack on the police.
He said the police had only gone there to ensure law and order and protect even the protestors, and so it was unfortunate for them to have injured one of his personnel.
There was heavy police presence mainly at traffic intersections and the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly.
Partners of the demonstration included Federation of Ashaiman Youth, Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Taxi and Trotro Drivers Unions and some Assembly members.
A petition was subsequently presented by the leadership of the group led by Freeman Tsikpo and Assembly Member and accompanied by the Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, Ernest Norgbey, to the government and received by the Ashaiman Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Albert Boakye Okyere.
They were of the view that successive governments had been unfair to the people of Ashaiman and thought they deserve better because the bad state of the roads were reducing their businesses, reducing the life span of their spouses, robbing them of incomes and inflicting them with serious health conditions.
The protest was characterised by some skirmishes as many of the protestors wanted to enter the premises of the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly but were denied access resulting in a “push and pull” by the municipal guards and the police to ensure the safety of staff and properties of the assembly.
Mr Okyere thanked them for their efforts and especially for acknowledging that the government had put some interventions in place for the development of the area.
He admitted that road played an important role in the lives of the people but there was the need to undertake projects such as drains before the roads which had commenced and so pleaded with them to be patient since their concerns were being addressed.
He said the engineers for the assembly had inspected the roads two weeks earlier in connection with 10 kilometres of drainage system to be constructed for the benefit of the community
FROM DZIFA TETTEH TAY, ASHAIMAN
