The impunity of converting access roads into washing bays

Early morning traffic congestion in some principal streets of the capital has intensified as access roads have been converted into washing bays.

The activities of car washers who have extended their services onto pavements and sections of the roads have worsened the traffic situation.

Pedestrians are, therefore, compelled under the circumstance to walk on the roads, which slows down the movement of vehicles.

A monitoring by the Daily Graphic revealed that shoulders of the Farrah Avenue, off the Asylum Down road had been taken over by some car washers.

The washers have created a secondary purpose for the pavement meant for pedestrians.

Their unlawful actions of washing vehicles on the pavement created inconveniences for commuters while generating heavy vehicular traffic.

Vehicles moved at a snail’s pace in traffic, which more than doubles the travel time for them to get to their various destinations.

When the Daily Graphic got to the area around 7:15 in the morning, it observed that both commercial and private cars had been lined up at one section of the road.

The vehicles were being washed by some young men who had their washing materials including detergents, dusters, and buckets scattered along the pavement of the road.

A taxi driver, Eric (not his real name) said he had been washing his car at Farrah Avenue every morning for the past two years.

According to him, there was nothing wrong with it, as the act had been considered a norm over the years.

Cool cash

In an interview with one of the car washers, Kojo Baah, who confessed that, the business though unlawful was lucrative.

He said on a very good day he could get GH¢50 within two hours as the business only boomed within the early hours of the day.

According to Baah, the washing of cars starts early in the morning by 5:30 a.m. and ends latest by 9a.m. because shop owners by that time would be opening up their stores for the day’s business.

Pick up at sunset.

Kojo Baah charges GH¢ 7 per vehicle and told the Daily Graphic that he could wash about five cars in the morning.

“Later during the day, I come back to top up” he added.

Worry and loss

At the vicinity in which they practiced this unlawful acts were surrounded by reputable companies including pharmaceutical shops, insurance companies and financial institutions.

They expressed worry about the degrading act as it sometimes affected their businesses.

Speaking with the Daily Graphic, the Executive Director of Crystal Bell Company Ltd, Mr L.Y.

Frempong, complained that the activities of the car washers drove away majority of his customers as they had no space to park their vehicles to transact business.

“These boys block the place my customers will park their cars, I always have to sack them to provide parking space before my customers can come to me.

“Sometimes my customers drive off because of the stress they have to go through before getting space to park” he complained.

Another shop attendant with Danabus Cleaning Service, Maame Efua added that the actions of the boys had an adverse effect not only on their businesses but the roads as well.

She explained that because of the constant spill of water on the road, sections of it were getting ruined.

“The kind of detergents these boys use to wash the cars here are very powerful, they are always here day and night and because of their business the roads are in bad shape”.

The practice which had been going on for the past six years according to the plaintiffs have received little to no attention from city authorities.

Efforts according to the complainants to get the car washers out of business has proven futile.

They indicated that relevant authorities such as the police and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly(AMA) have failed to evacuate the boys after several complaints.

Death Trap

Meanwhile, the Daily Graphic also identified another challenge at the tail end of the Farrah Aveneue road.
The traffic light at the intersection was nonfunctional leaving motorist and pedestrians, particularly school children vulnerable to road accidents and knockdowns.

The traffic light which showed amber according to the residents of the area had not been working for the past two months making it difficult for vehicles from the Kojo Thompson road join the Kwame Nkrumah –Accra lane and vice versa.

Checks

A visit by the Daily Graphic to the Adabraka Police Station revealed that tonnes of complains had been lodged at the station regarding the unlawful acts of the car washers.

When interviewed, the Station Officer acknowledged the problem facing business executives at Farrah Aveneue.
He indicated that plans were far advanced in arresting perpetrators of the act adding that such plans needed time to execute.

“offenders of this unlawful act when arrested would be arraigned” he added.

On the issue of curbing the danger which came along with the non-functional traffic light, he made it known that the station was not equipped with a Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU) to address the challenge.

“Our commander is in the process of securing one for us, some of these things take time and it is procedural” he noted.

Nonetheless, he said the best they could do was to conduct patrol checks around that area