The Member of Parliament for Weija-Gbawe, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, has called on the government to urgently repair the Mallam-Weija section of the Accra-Kasoa Highway, saying the poor state of the road and delays in drainage works are causing commuters to spend up to four hours in traffic.
According to the MP, the damaged road, frequent flooding and slow progress on an ongoing storm drain project have made daily travel along one of the country’s busiest roads extremely difficult for motorists.
Speaking during an interview on Friday, Mr. Shaib said people travelling from the Central Region and Kasoa to Accra face long traffic delays, especially between Atala, Weija Junction and Mallam Junction.
“You realize when people are coming from Kasoa towards Accra, sometimes it takes more than three hours just to pass by,” he said.
He blamed part of the problem on the slow pace of work on the storm drain project, adding that he has raised the issue several times with the Minister for Works, Housing and Water Resources.
“He has been here about two or three times. He has asked the contractor to speed up. I do not know if it is an issue of funding or resources because they have been very slow in completing that project,” he stated.
Mr. Shaib said the heavy traffic is affecting people’s work and making it difficult for essential workers to get to their jobs on time.
He recalled the case of a surgeon at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital who was stuck in traffic for nearly three hours while patients waited for him.
“I know of a doctor at Korle Bu who sent me a message asking what was happening to us. He had been in traffic for all that while. How does he even get to the hospital to help patients?” he said.
The MP said he had previously carried out repairs on parts of the road, but recurring floods and what he believes are engineering defects continue to damage the road surface and create potholes.
He also revealed that he had sent videos and pictures of the damaged sections to the Minister for Roads and Highways, who acknowledged the problem and assured him that the necessary repairs would be carried out.
Mr. Shaib, however, appealed to the government to act quickly, saying thousands of people rely on the road every day.
“We are begging them. We are on our knees begging them. They should please do something about this for us, especially from Weija Junction to Mallam Junction, so that commuters will not remain in traffic for all this while,” he appealed.
He said repairing the road would not only improve travel for residents of Weija-Gbawe but also make life easier for the thousands of commuters who travel daily between Accra, Kasoa and the Central Region.
