Deplorable roads lead to no where

When my 19-year-old daughter saw the road networks between the Teshie-Camp and Ablezaa for the first time, she thought I had missed my way home.

“Daddy, where are we going?” was her first reaction moments after I hit the  muddy, slippery, bumpy, waterlogged and pothole-ridden road that led to the Manet Estate area, where I reside in  Accra.

Following my transfer to Accra, my daughter, Justina,  who is schooling in Cape Coast, has always  been eager to visit me.

 Having been born, bred and schooled in Kumasi, from the basic to the SHS level, she  had always dreamt about life in the capital, so following my transfer from  the Garden City to Accra, she started reminding me about her visit.

She,  however, arrived midway into my working day after I gave her the nod,  and therefore had to wait for sometime before being transported home. On our way, we used the traffic infested  Osu Castle –La road along the beach, before branching off onto the bush road .

Bush Road

The Bush Road, constructed barely  three years  ago, has  now  started  showing signs of deterioration with different sizes of potholes as a result of  poor constructional works and lack of maintenance, like other roads in  the country.

All along, Justina was all smiles, especially when we hit the double lane La Beach road,  where  traffic was a bit lighter, and the sea breeze greeted us  with fresh and cool winds .                                                                

The Bush Road , though  quite risky to use due to the emerging potholes  that could easily cause fatal accidents, was a bit  friendly for sightseeing because of its expansive nature.

It does not only  allow motorists to meander their way out to avoid plunging their vehicles into potholes, but  also reduces massive congestion associated with the La beach road.

It, therefore, offered my daughter another opportunity to enjoy the surroundings, especially, the newly constructed structures dotted along the road en-route the bush road through Teshie Camp-Two, to the Lekma Hospital and  Ablezaa.

It was after we entered the vicinity of Tebebiano, a suburb in Teshie,  and at the point where the asphalted bush road runs directly  into the untarred  and muddy  road, pregnant with assorted potholes, and gutters, that my daughter  asked me if  I had not lost my way home.

“Daddy, are you sure this is your way home?” she asked innocently, but with a stern face, indicating that she could not believe that the route, I had suddenly taken was the right one.

Manhyia-Abuom road

It was then that it occurred to me that she needed to be properly orientated for her to appreciate that Accra, that became the capital of the British Gold Coast colony in 1877, and had remained the seat of government since independence in 1957,  also has serious road infrastructure challenges, just like Manhyia - a community in Abuom in the Brong Ahafo region - where my mother’s cocoa farm is located, and other parts of the country.

However, unlike Manhyia, where  members of the community regularly  undertake communal labour on Tuesdays to put the single-lane feeder road in good shape, thereby allowing the free flow of  goods and services, road networks of some suburbs in Accra, have been totally neglected.

The roads are so deplorable that many in various suburbs of Accra have now  been turned into death traps, ready to snap motorists who dare refuse to  drive at  a snail’s pace  in conformity with the  decayed road networks .

Just like many others, driving through the bush road through Tabebiano, Camp-two to the Lekma Hospital is really a nightmare. Unfortunately,  it is the only alternative route to my residential area, which is around the Manet Estate, off the Spintex road.

 Assorted potholes

 On the bush road- Tebebiano-Camp Two- Lekma Hospital  route, the potholes keep on expanding in size and depth each second of the day, due  to the numerous  vehicles that ply it .

Since the potholes seem to have been specially arranged and knitted together, it is highly impossible to avoid plunging into any of them. Persistent rainfalls in Accra recently have also added to the nightmare, especially, when the showers start early in the mornings.

In such periods, many of the roads suddenly turn into muddy streams, becoming slippery  and treacherous, such that , one needs to apply all the requisite driving skills to  drive through unscathed.

The other alternative route to the Manet Estate area  is through the junction just after the Teshie Police Station.

Pools

However, on that route, the potholes are less friendly. This is  because when it rains, they turn into pools of water, which could easily be  misconstrued as fish ponds, such that, driving through them, to and from office, and using saloon cars  which have seen a number of years,  is likely to cause the breakdown of the engine.

Avoiding any of these two routes, means falling in love with the only last route, which is through the Spintex Junction-Manet Estate road. Ironically, due to the manner it has deteriorated, it is the worst of the routes, so using it on a daily basis is much more dangerous.

Constant fear

Motorists who have been using any of the road networks around Manet Estate, therefore, live in constant fear.

The fear of  getting your car totally smeared with mud after every rainfall; the fear of washing the engines regularly ,and its effect on the engine, the regular cash flow that goes into washing the car twice or more each day when it rains, the fear of  getting your car break down in the muddy road and how to get out of the car, the fear of getting the car stuck in the mud during rainfall and where to park, the fear of dishing out cash to mechanics for regular repairs in case of any breakdown midway.

Justina was very attentive during my briefings, but was quick to ask why the roads  in many parts of Accra had been left to deteriorate over the years, and  for a response, I had to interact with some community and transport leaders around the locality.

In response to the question, a middle aged man who gave his name as Maxwell Mantse said, “it  is misplaced priority that has reduced road networks in parts of Accra  and other parts of the country to such deplorable states.”

“The politicians have always been assuring us that they would put the roads into good shape as soon as they are elected into office, but as soon as elections are over, they use our resources to do things that have no bearing on the welfare of the citizenry,” he noted.

Road tolls

A driver, who gave his name as Jonny Cobbina, made reference to the millions of cedis collected from motorists at different parts of the highways as road tolls on a regular basis  and questioned what the funds were  for.

“On the Kumasi-Accra road alone, there are three tollbooths, three from Kumasi to Sunyani and similar ones at other highways across the country. At each of these booth, millions are collected each day, so  why should our roads continue to suffer  such serious degradations? ” he bemoaned.

Expressing concern about the effect of such roads on his business, he noted, “With the 2016 general elections getting closer and closer, I am certain the politicians will flock here in their numbers once again to  solicit our votes, but I am wondering what their campaign messages will be this time round.” 

Writer's email:george.asare@graphic.com.gh