The Member of Parliament for Weija-Gbawe, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, has called on the government to urgently repair the Mallam-Weija stretch of the Accra-Kasoa highway.
According to him, deteriorating roads and delayed drainage projects are forcing commuters to spend up to four hours in traffic.
The MP indicated that using the stretch, which is one of the country’s busiest corridors, has become a daily nightmare for motorists due to the worsening condition of the roads.
Ahmed Shaib who was speaking on Citi Breakfast Show on Friday, July 3, said commuters travelling from the Central Region and Kasoa into Accra face severe delays, particularly between the Atala area, 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.
Part of the problem, he said, was a result of the slow pace of work on an ongoing storm drain project, adding that he had repeatedly engaged the Minister for Works, Housing and Water Resources over the issue.
“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.
The MP said the congestion is affecting productivity and delaying access to essential services, citing the case of a surgeon at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital who was caught 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.
He also mentioned that although he had undertaken repairs on sections of the road previously, recurring flooding and engineering defects continue to damage the carriageway and create potholes.
He disclosed that he had shared videos and photographs of the affected roads with the Minister for Roads and Highways, who had acknowledged the concerns and assured him that the issues would be addressed, however, he urged the government to expedite the intervention, stressing that thousands of commuters depend on the route 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 stressed that fixing the stretch would not only benefit residents of Weija-Gbawe but thousands of motorists travelling daily between Accra, Kasoa and the Central Region.
