Motorists refuse use of Dome-Kitase-Berekusu road

A suggestion by the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) for motorists returning to Accra from the Eastern Region and vice-versa to use the Dome-Kitase-Berekusu road has been ignored.

Motorists are still using the main Adentan-Aburi road which was closed because of the danger of falling rocks on the Ayi-Mensah-Peduase stretch.

The Daily Graphic observed on Tuesday that the Ayi-Mensah to Peduase section of the road was rather busy, in disregard of the warning of rocks falling from the surrounding hills.

Notwithstanding the inherent danger, motorists explained that they still preferred to use that route because the road suggested by the GHA was rough, bumpy and dusty.  

The GHA suggested last Sunday that motorists temporarily use the Dome-Kitase-Berekusu road because the slopes of the hills between Ayi-Mensah and Peduase had been assessed to have the potential for further rock falls and slope failures and thus made it unsafe. 

But, drivers interviewed insisted that they would choose to move in the slow moving traffic up the hill than travel the rough, potholed and awful road through Berekusu, saying ‘it was more a punishment than relief”

The Daily Graphic travelled to Ayi-Mensah to find out at first what the situation was following complaints it received from drivers using the Adentan-Aburi road.

Closure

The hilly and curvy Adentan-Aburi road is noted for the occasional rockfalls that always pose harm or injury to motorists.

The recent incident happened just a week after a similar one caused the Peduase Lodge to Ayi-Mensah lane to be closed to traffic.

The government initiated road works on sections of that stretch in 2016 to prevent mudslides and falling rocks and a steel mesh held by anchor bolts was put over sections of the slope.

Commuting on the Kwabenya-Kitase road

The Dome-Kitase-Berekusu road was used as the alternative route to and from Accra to the Eastern Region some 15 years ago, when construction works were undertaken to turn the the Adentan-Aburi road into a dual carriageway.

However, very little work was done to improve conditions along the hillsides.

On visiting the Dome-Kitase-Berekusu road, the Daily Graphic counted only four private vehicles and it took amost two hours to make the journey, one which taxi drivers and okada riders could make in 30 minutes or less if the road were smooth and tarred.

“This road is terrible.  We are spending a lot more changing tyres and shock absorbers. It is not fair to be voting and paying taxes and be left in such horrible state. We deserve better,” Mr Solomon Boafo, a taxi driver complained.

The Dome-Kitase-Berekusu road from Aburi

Agyamenti

At Agyamenti, deep crevices split the road into two, compelling drivers to take to the shoulders at the risk of veering off into deep ravines by the sides.

Angry residents in the farming community here say they had heard stories often told of plans by the government to reconstruct the road but nothing has happened till date.

“We are pleading with the President to make our road a priority project. Last year, the Chief of Berekuso, Nana Oteng, made a strong case for the road to be built but so far nothing has happened.

“If we have good roads there will be jobs and we can give our children better education,” said a female resident who knelt to demonstrate the desperation  of the community.

Nature’s assault on the road takes its worse turn at Ayim where the road has become riddled with potholes that are filled with water gushing from the surrounding hills after each rainfall.

Berekuso

At Berekuso, the only tarred road is the one that leads up to the Ashesi University and which was financed by the university.

The Assembly Member for the area, Mr Samuel Appiah, told the Daily Graphic that the construction of the road leading to and from the town was abandoned in 2017 after the change of government.

Meanwhile, the Daily Graphic found a grader levelling road at the outskirts of the town and upon enquiry was told by workers from the GHA on the job that they have been instructed to level the road up to Kwabenya.

Construction

The bad nature of the road has attracted appeals and protests from people living within the communities on that stretch.

Last September, the Government of Ghana announced that it had signed an agreement with the Kuwait Fund  for a loan of $23.8million to construct the road.

The Member of Parliament for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, who is also the Minister of Public Procurement said: “Government of Ghana and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development have signed a Seven Million Kuwait Dinars loan agreement to finance the Dome-Brekusu-Kitase road project.”