Former Minister of Roads and Highways Inusah Fuseini, has accused the Akufo-Addo-led administration of abandoning the completion of the footbridges on the main Adenta-Madina highway resulting in pedestrian killings.
According to the Tamale Central MP, government after being in office for close to two years now, should have completed the footbridges on the road considering the amount of work his administration did on the 5.7 kilometer stretch.
He told Akwasi Nsiah on Anopa Kasapa Friday, that the footbridges were not completed during his tenure as minister due to funding challenges but expected the new government to prioritized the project, seeing through to its completion.
“Before I left office, it was only left with the footbridges we had to work on…..we did everything, the only safety mechanism left on the road was to complete the footbridges. This is why am saying that, if government had prioritized the project this wouldn’t have happened because I left all the documents with them and the ministry of highway knows about it. The contractor was on site working before I left the ministry and so if the contractor had been ordered and facilitated, enabled to go back to site,this death we are experiencing, wouldn’t have happened at all” he said.
He added that “The project was part of the “gang of four” which was started by President Kufour. It has no dedicated source of funding……during our time, on yearly basis, we allocate funds for the completion of the project. So I ask, 1st January 2017 to the end, how much was paid to the contractor to go and complete the outstanding work, on 1st January until now, how much was paid to the contractor to go back to site” he questioned.
This comes on the heels of yesterday’s protest by some angry residents of the area after a vehicle knock down a student of the West Africa Senior High School as she attempted closing the road right under the uncompleted footbridge.
Meanwhile, the Police has revealed that per their records 24 individuals have so far died on the Adenta-Madina Highway between January and October this year while over 100 have been injured through accidents.
“We have recorded about 24 deaths and 164 injuries between January and 31st October on that stretch,” DSP Alex Obeng, head of research of the MTTD told Kasapa News.
The number excludes the young girl who died on Thursday and those reported to have died last week.
Residents of both Adenta and Madina will on Monday stage a demonstration to drum home their long outstanding demand even after the Ministry of Roads and Highways has announced that work on the six (6) uncompleted pedestrian bridges will begin a week’s time.
By: Alex Semordzi
