The downpour which occurred over the weekend in Accra caused gridlock on the Mallam-Kasoa highway on Monday morning, causing commercial vehicles to abandon the stretch leaving passengers stranded.
The traffic congestion was made worse due to the deplorable nature of the roads in the area.
Anytime it rained, a pool of mud from a nearby hill is created along the path of the Kasoa-Tollbooth area, popularly known as Osiadan, and the stretch between the Old Barrier and SCC Junction, causing heavy vehicular traffic on the stretch.
Despite several appeals to the government to fix the problem, the issue still persists.
As at about 5:30 a.m. Monday morning, hundreds of commuters stuck in traffic were spotted by the Ghanaian Times fruitlessly trying to maneuver through the congestion.
The situation created a business opportunity for some early morning hawkers who were spotted selling water and bread to passengers and drivers.
The Ghanaian Times also observed that some young men took advantage of the situation to help clear the piled sand on the street to make way for drivers, while begging for tips in the process.
Some benevolent drivers, mostly private car owners, scrolled down the windscreen of their vehicles to give out money to the men helping in their own way to help get the sand off the street temporarily around the toll-booth.
In separate interviews with the Ghanaian Times, some pedestrians bemoaned the deplorable nature of the roads in the area and the lack of attention from authorities to fix the problem.
Mr Mark Agyeman, a clothing seller, said he left his home around 4:30 a.m. and got to the Brigade Bus Stop around 4:45 a.m. but had as at 5:40 not gotten any commercial vehicle heading towards Accra to board.
He described the situation as frustrating, saying it affected his business as most of his customers who buy goods from him in bulk visit the market at dawn and leave by 7:00 a.m.
“As a dealer in second hand clothing I make sure to get to the market latest by 5:25 a.m. However situations like this always affects us negatively. I cannot leave home at 3:00 a.m too, due to security reasons. Crime rate here is high so I always try and leave by 4am or 4:30 a.m. because around that time I meet others on their way to work so it is quite safer.”
Another pedestrian, Mensah Godwin, a plumber at the Tetegu bus stop near Weija junction complained that anytime it rained, getting commercial vehicles to board was a very big problem for passengers on the Mallam-Kasoa stretch.
He, therefore, called on the government to pay attention to the deplorable nature of the Kasoa-Barrier and Mallam-Kaneshie highway to avert any calamity.
The Ghanaian Times proceeded to the main Kasoa station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Accra, to enquire from the drivers why they usually abandon the Kasoa stretch anytime it rained without considering the plight of passengers.
One of the drivers, Mr Bismarck Ansah, said he avoided the Kasoa stretch anytime it rained because of the piles of sand which caused vehicles to break down.
Another driver, Elikplim Kpodo, said until the problem at the Kasoa-Barrier stretch was resolved, most drivers would choose to stay off the stretch anytime it rained.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
