Light up the tunnel
Building modern road infrastructure, complete with flyovers and underpasses demands innovative thinking and expertise.
Significant investments are made to ensure these projects balance functionality with safety.
A notable example is the Sofoline Interchange in Kumasi, designed to streamline traffic flow, reduce travel times and safeguard passengers and pedestrians. By and large, the project has served its purpose.
However, a recent development in the underpass tunnel linking the Ghana Commercial Bank to Prempeh College falls short of expectations.
For the past two months, the tunnel has been shrouded in pitch darkness, day and night, due to ‘dumsor’, ‘sordum’ or a blend of the two. Ironically, the tunnel is fitted with solar panels, intended to provide reliable source of electricity. However, these panels, purchased with taxpayers’ money remain idle due to unconnected cables, rendering them useless.
The CCTV cameras installed in the tunnel for surveillance and safety purposes are rendered futile by the pervasive darkness. Similarly, the decorative displays of past and present leaders on the tunnel walls are obscure.
My personal experience of guiding a lone five-year-old pupil through the tunnel on two occasions highlights the alarming neglect of safety in this space.
Who bears the responsibility for ensuring the tunnel’s safety?
Shifting the blame to the absence of MMDCEs would be a laughable excuse.
This failure raises disturbing questions: Are we knowingly exposing our vulnerable citizens to the risk of crime?
Are we adopting an ostrich-mentality of burying our heads in the sand and pretending that the problem does not exist?
From the depths of the tunnel, desperate voices of Ghanaians cry in unison and echo through the darkness: “Light up the tunnel!”
As the elders say, “a stitch in time saves nine.”
We implore our duty-bearers to restore light to this tunnel that has now been transformed into a foreboding pit.
Let our voices resonate through radio, television and social media until the right thing is done.
We pray that our plea would not fall on deaf ears, only to be followed by the usual knee-jerk reactions that come after avoidable tragedies.
Kofi Nimo-Baafuor Jr,
Biology Unit,
Prempeh College.