Conditions at Neoplan, Odawna transport stations offensive
Traders and commuters at the Neoplan and Odawna bus stations at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra have expressed their dissatisfaction over the sanitation within and around the stations.
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According to them, poor sanitation and other environmental problems at both terminals are obstructing their operations.
In interviews with the Daily Graphic, the traders, in particular, blamed managers of the stations for having looked on unconcerned even though fees were collected daily for the maintenance of the facility.
The concerns come in the wake of the recent outbreak of cholera in the Greater Accra Region.
Commuters at the Odawna bus terminal also expressed discontent over the manner in which vehicles in the stations had been haphazardly arranged, which made movement very difficult.
However, attempts by the Daily Graphic to reach the management of the stations for their side of the story was unsuccessful as they were not at post.
The situation
On a visit to the Neoplan Station last Wednesday, the Daily Graphic found heaps of rubbish at the entrance of the station. Rubbish had carelessly been dumped all over the place, with houseflies hovering over decaying food and other things left on the ground.
At the Odawna bus terminal, the whole unpaved perimeter was muddy following a downpour on Tuesday. Under the circumstances, commuters and itinerant traders had their footwear soiled with mud as they moved from one place to another.
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Traders and passengers alarmed
A cassette seller at the Neoplan Station, Fiifi Adjei, told the Daily Graphic that the insanitary conditions were becoming a matter of great concern that required immediate solution.
He pointed to a pile of rubbish which he said his colleagues and himself had gathered and were waiting for it to dry so it could be burnt.
“The authorities claim the tolls they collect from us are used to ensure cleanliness at the station, but we do not see any progress. We are even happy that it rained the other day, because it washed away and rid the gutters of a good deal of rubbish that had been generated.
Manaf Mustapha, a driver who plies the Circle-Sukura road from the Odawna bus terminal, said managers of the station had turned a blind eye to the bad conditions prevailing at the station. He said because the station became so muddy anytime it rained, commuters were reluctant to enter it station and this slowed down business and affected transporters badly.
Divergent view
On the other hand, Nii Amponsah, a porter at the Odawna Station, expressed the view that authorities at the station should not be blamed wholly for the problems confronting the station. He said ongoing construction works at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle were also to blame for the unsightly nature of the bus terminal.
“Formerly, it took about 45 minutes for one to travel the Circle-Kaneshie road, but now it takes about two hours to do that. I think the government must come in to solve the sloppiness that is going on,” he said.
He said the prevailing development had compelled some drivers to position their vehicles outside the station in order to cope with the situation, and this was creating traffic jams outside the station.
The authorities
Mr John Awuah, the Welfare Committee Chairman at the Neoplan Station, told the Daily Graphic that the sanitation situation at the station had not improved over the years.
He also said the reported cases of cholera indicated that sanitation in the country as a whole was bad.
“The problem of insanitary conditions at the station has arisen because the AMA does not deploy its refuse collection trucks in good time to pick up rubbish from the station. It takes about two to three days for a truck to arrive and this is worrying, because in between the collection times rubbish accumulates beuyong expectation,” he opined.