Work starts on Adentan bridges next week

The Ministry of Roads and Highways has announced that work on the six uncompleted pedestrian bridges in Adentan will commence within a week.

Temporarily, the ministry, in collaboration with the Interior Ministry, has requested the Ghana Police Service to deploy officers of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) to prevent further deaths.

A statement from the Inter-Ministerial Committee on road safety issued yesterday night said the government regretted the killing of residents by speeding vehicles. The statement further said work had already been ongoing in recent weeks to address the situation and that procurement processes were now near completion.

Contractors abandoned the project as a result of failure by previous governments to honour payments due them.

As part of efforts to renew work on the project, the Akufo-Addo administration settled 50 per cent of the debt and has been working to get work resumed in November 2018.

Though official police records say 24 deaths and 64 injuries have been recorded on the stretch this year, media reports suggest almost 200 pedestrians have been killed.

Contractors who worked on the project handed over the road without completing the bridges. The ministry says it is making frantic efforts to correct the situation and appealed to residents to assist in containing the situation.

The project commenced in July 2008 and was handed over in June 2018.

Drivers have also been cautioned to observe speed limits while pedestrians have been encouraged to use the signalised intersections as much as possible.