Amanfrom-Top Town road deteriorates; But assembly says it’s under rehabilitation

The entire stretch of the road from the Ngleshie Amanfrom Junction through to Top Town and American Farm in the Ga South Municipality is in a deplorable state.

Although the road was previously bad, severe damage has occurred following the recent rains that hit the area and other parts of the country. 

To make a bad situation worse, some landlords and hairdressers along the route have taken advantage of the rain water on the road and have directed waste water from their homes and saloons onto the road, thereby increasing the rate of deterioration. 

Subsequently, the road has developed deep gullies that are making vehicular movement excessively difficult.

Key areas

For a journey from the Amanfrom Junction to American Farm through areas like Secondary School, Apedwa, Roundabout, Brown Kiosk, Blodo Junction, 50-50 Junction, Last Stop and Elder Duah, that took about 10 minutes, one now spends not less that 30 minutes because of the tortuous nature of the road.

Effect of poor road condition

The poor road condition has brought about a cessation in taxi service in the area. This is because a number of taxi cabs often broke down. Under the circumstances, the area is now served by commercial vehicles (trotro) but even with that residents sometimes get stranded and have to queue for long periods, especially in the mornings and evenings. 

Residents at American Farm, for instance, have to queue as early as 4 a.m. to join a vehicle to Kaneshie and the central parts of Accra. 

Government’s attention

Residents have, therefore, called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, improve the condition of the road in the area.

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A commercial vehicle driver, Abdul Rahman, said his vehicle had broken down because of the bad nature of the road. “This road is very bad and needs immediate attention. It should be levelled to make way for the easy movement of people and vehicles,” he said.

A resident, Auntie Vera Arthur, who commutes to and from Accra every weekday to sell, wondered why the road had been left to deteriorate. She wondered why the municipal road authorities did not occasionally come to level the road, particularly during the rainy season. 

“The government would have to come to our aid now because we spend too much time in queues waiting for transport, especially in the evenings,” Kokou Mensah, another resident said.

He said while waiting for the government to repair the road, residents who owned vehicles and landlords in the area could come together and through contributions, in cash and labour, do some repairs themselves as their contribution to the development of the area.

Residents’ responsibility

Another resident who pleaded anonymity deplored the actions of people who discharge waste water from their homes onto the road through pipe tubes

“You see, these people are also not helping the situation. The rains will definitely cease and they will be openly exposed,” he said. He added ,  “if we do not desist from such attitudes we would repeat the same irresponsible acts even when the road is repaired.”

Municipal assembly

In his reaction to the concerns of residents, Mr Elliot Adom, the Public Relations Officer of the Ga South Municipal Assembly, said there was an on-going programme to make the roads in the various communities in the municipality motorable.

According to him, only six per cent of the road network was good. At the moment, he said, work was on-going with the roads in Tuba, Old Barrier, Tetegu and Amanfrom.

He said the works entailed regravelling to ease the difficulty residents went through.

According to the Municipal Public Relations Officer, since road construction was a capital intensive enterprise, the assembly would want to have the roads done through a public-private partnership deal which hopefully would solve the problem once and for all.