Kasoa-Mallam road users cry for help as drainage construction leads to long hours in traffic

Residents of Kasoa and its environs have appealed to the Ghana Highways Authority to liaise with the management of the Pambros Salt Ltd to open the route to Dansoman for vehicular use in order to ease the long and heavy traffic congestion on the Kasoa-Mallam road.

The traffic situation has been occasioned by the ongoing construction of a drainage at the Mallam Junction.

According to the residents, the traffic situation had become unbearable as they spent many hours through Mallam Junction to and from work on a daily basis.

The residents, who made the call in separate interviews with the Daily Graphic, said although the drainage work was a laudable idea as it would ease the flooding of the area when it rained, there was the need to ensure that commuters did not suffer needlessly when other alternative routes were available.

Project

The drainage construction is a project under the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Sanitation and Water Project and the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources. It is expected to cost GH¢6 million.

Work on the 500-metre double-cell culvert drain at Mallam Junction began on Monday, April 30, 2017 and is expected to be completed in 50 days.

The project is among priority drains that have been earmarked for re-engineering under the GAMA sanitation project that started in 2015 with a $150 million funding support from the World Bank.

Other priority drains are located at areas such as Gbawe, Kaneshie First Light and Agbogba, while some minor ones are also to be constructed across the 11 assemblies within the Accra Metropolis.

Residents

A resident, Madam May Esinu, said last Thursday, she spent two and half hours from the St Martin de Porres School to the Sakaman Junction, adding that if the Pambros route had been opened, she could have used it.

“Now that they are working on the section for those of us coming from Kasoa to Accra, the situation is going to get worse and people on their way to work are going to get late for work,” she stated.

Another resident and regular user of the road, Mr Agyei Arthur, noted that the opening of the Pambros road was currently the best alternative to ease the congestion on the Mallam-Kasoa road.

“Now, coming from Kaneshie through the MacCarthy Hill takes close to three hours. Closing from work and spending three hours in traffic is too bad,” he said.

Mr Efui Torkornoo indicated that the current traffic congestion in the area could have health implications for people coming from the Western part of Accra if immediate steps were not taken to ease the situation.

He equally wondered if it was wrong for some citizens to choose to live in Kasoa and beyond?

“With the current situation, you have to wake up at 3 a.m. and leave the house by 4 a.m., otherwise you will get to work late and waste precious man-hours.

“To avoid the traffic in the evenings, it means you have to leave the office at around 11 p.m. This means little time for sleep and rest if the cycle continues,” he lamented.