A scene during the protest
A protest by residents and some commercial drivers, who ply the
Oduman-Nsakina road in the Ga West Municipality, over the bad nature of their
road, left hundreds of commuters in those areas stranded.
The
commercial drivers parked their vehicles and refused to pick passengers to
their various locations, while private car owners were prevented from driving
through the road.
As early
as 6am, the protesters had blocked the main Oduma road which leads to Nsakina
and had burnt car tyres at some vantage points
of the road thus preventing other road users from plying the roads.
The recent
protest was the third time residents in the area had embarked on such an
exercise.
At
the time DAILY GUIDE visited the scene around 8am, drivers of commercial
buses also known as ‘trotro’ had parked their vehicles and had blocked sections
of the roads linking Ablekuma, Manhean, Oduma, Nsakina and adjoining
communities.
According
to a driver, identified as Ali Baba, their decision to embark on the protest
was as a result of the authorities’ refusal to fix the road.
He
said somewhere last year, some drivers and youth of the area protested about
the bad nature of the roads and were arrested.
He
continued that a year ago, they were told after a protest, that the road had
been awarded to a contractor; but it has been more than a year and nothing has
happened.
Another
driver, told the paper that the road itself was bad and when it rained, drivers
found it difficult driving through.
“Instead
of 10 munities, we spend more than an hour to drive from Nsakina to Ablekuma due
to the bad nature of the road and this is affecting our work as commercial
drivers,” he added.
Adding,
he revealed that some of the commercial drivers had refused to move beyond Ablekuma
to work in these areas due to the nature of the road.
The recent
blockade forced some residents of the area to walk long distances to other
locations to pick vehicles to their workplace.
Around
8:30am, personnel from the Amasaman divisional police command visited the area
to ensure peace in the area.
A police,
who spoke on condition of anonymity with the paper, said the demonstration was
illegal and blocking the main road was unlawful on their part.
However,
upon seeing two armored cars of the police unit approaching the scene, the
drivers and demonstrators bolted the scene to avoid arrest.
The police managed to put out the fire and secured the area for commuters to have easy access.
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey
