The Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development, Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, has attributed gridlock in cities across the country to the activities of traders and inadequate implementation of traffic regulations.
His comment comes after the botched Legislative Instrument (L.I.) to grant legislators, Supreme Court justices and ministers the privilege to use sirens and exempt them from speed limits while performing their official duties.
Speaking to the media during his tour of market project sites in Accra, Mr Korsah voiced his opposition to the L.I. and assured that his office, in collaboration with other stakeholders, will enforce traffic regulations strictly.
“The issue is enforcement. If the road is constructed for the free flow of movement, it has to be so. You cannot convert it to trading and so on. There are all kinds of things happening.
“Sometimes, I drive around town between midnight to 3 am to have a feel of the problems we are dealing with and you look at the quietness and the order on our roads. However, when day breaks it becomes another thing,” he stated.
The local government minister added, “Areas like Makola, Malata, Kaneshie or where markets or trading take over the streets, it is nonexistent at night. When the day breaks, the market is there but people move out onto the streets and drivers pack on the roads to load passengers. Those for me are issues of enforcement, the laws are there and our assemblies must use them to work.”
In an interview, Mr Ayine clarified that the amendment was merely a proposal and not a compulsory directive to the transport minister as has been speculated in the public domain.
He acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the proposal and accepted responsibility on behalf of his committee, stating that he held no position on the matter when it was submitted.