Fire!...by the Accra-Tema Motorway...where is the EPA?

Yesterday evening, I saw this scene of a young kid--around 10yrs--"managing" fire of this magnitude near the Accra-Tema motorway.

Now at the best of times, the motorway is not the most abiding of places for even an adult -- let alone a kid. Never mind the fact that there was serious danger, what with the second-hand tyres piled up nearby, and the fire just by the motorway!

Imagine if that fire had gone out of control? Apart from the habitual shaking-of-the-head (a typical refrain in this country!), I could only wonder where on Earth the Environmental Protection Agency policy on this is?

Sure, it does have a website, but how is its public education? How many people even know that you are NOT supposed to burn material near a motorway. Sure, it might be common-sense, but let us face it: it sure may be common...but not EVERYONE has it. In this respect, a little critical public outreach and education should go some way in people unlearning bad, bad practises...like these!

WAKE UP, EPA!

Here's some information about contacting them. Taken from their website:

Accra East Region

The Regional Officer

Community 22 Tema Greater Accra P. O. Box AS 11 , Ashiaman Ghana accraeast.region@epa.gov.gh 0303 310009 / 0303 312012 http://www.epa.gov.gh Working Hours Monday to Friday 0800 to 1700 Hours

When 'Accra by Day&Night' Was Airborne

Back when we were in Belgium, I always looked forward to coming home to Accra. I always also knew when we were almost home.

After connecting to Amsterdam with KLM from Zaventem in Brussels, the contrast was magnificent. Whereas Zaventem by day was orderly from  the air, six/seven hours from Amsterdam to Accra was met with darkness...and serious patches of light throughout the capital.

Never mind that a gush of hot/humid Accra air would meet us every blessed time, what increasingly amused me many a time was just the above. And despite all that, I would not trade it for any other country.

This is a shot I took landing in to Accra back in March. It is of no less than the Tema motorway. From up high and during the day, one gets to appreciate the beauty a bit more.

Ghana's Precarious Record on Road Safety Needs Revision...Now!

The call is more of an appeal than anything. Lets face it: Ghanaians can sometimes be an indiscplined bunch--as exemplified by this picture here, where a "heavy duty" truck is parked on the first lane of a motorway...without hazard lights.

Apart from the fact that the Ghana police is nowhere to be found, other things are found wanting:

1. a number--preferrably toll-free--to call to report cases like these;

2. a number--perhaps a twitter account of a news outlet, or the National Road Safety Commission--to report such cases;

I don't have the statistics, but simply put: too many Ghanaians die on the road every year--and this can be avoided if we put some small steps into place.

China in Ghana?

I cannot help but wonder whether this picture is not sufficient proof of the pivotal role of China's capital in Ghana?

Ghana's Talking Point:" Road Tolls"

I have come to read and understand that the USA has an atavistic revulsion towards big government. Consequently, anything that comes with a greater role of the State and the government is attacked. Small wonder Obama is suffering the fallout, if you will, of focussing on bringing some sanity to health care reform in a manner that the EU would applaud.

Ghana and the US might be similar only in the sense that our elections are held the same year as the US, but I sincerely hope that Ghana will never go the way of sneezing at taxes and government. The what some might say "dramatic" increases in the road tolls on Ghana's major motorway--the Tema motorway--where the tolls have gone up more than 50% overnight has led to a situation where commuters have used the infamous Spintex road in the morning just to avoid paying the taxes.

Or so private radio station CITI97.3fm was averring yesterday morning in interviews. I seriously would not put it past my fellow denizens, though!

Collective Tyre-Fixing in Accra

This is really not a regular feature in Accra, but the breakdowns of trucks like these are!

Suffice-to-say, the maintenance of such cars might be this side short of shoddy, hence scenes like these, such as that which I captured on the Tema motorway two weeks ago, are only as common as the number of huge trucks I see driving on the first lane on a two-lane motorway where cars should take precedence!

I believe that now that the road regulator -- National Road Safety Commission -- is under one roof on a Board, along with Board of Directors for the Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMTL), and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) Ghanaians will enjoy a more efficient road sector that will be safer for all.

Ghana's New Holiday--"Founder's Day" (21st September). Dr.Nkrumah's day!

Given that pictures paint the proverbial thousand words, I am going to leave a sampling of some of the headlines from Ghanaian dailies--(from top to bottom): Ghanaian Times; Daily Graphic; Ghana Palaver. I have begun creating a specific album for photo captures of Osagyefo Dr.Kwame Nkrumah, the Founder of Ghana. Monday began the 9-month celebration of the centenary of his life. He must have been something special to have a whole 9 months dedicated to his celebration. The truth?

He was!

He built our Tema motorway in the late 1940s. It still stands strong todqay. He built our Akosombo dam, which still gives us electricity--despite the fact that we are 22.5 million now as compared to 6 million in 1957!

Words are insufficient to explain the man, but the headlines--including the fact that he should inspire the youth--already attest to the greatness of the man. For non-Ghanaians, a quick google search will give you a good insight, but let me leave you with the fact that in 2000, listeners to no less than than British Broadcasting Corporation voted him the Man of the Millenium. Here is the quote back then:

Last December, BBC listeners in Africa voted Kwame Nkrumah, the first head of an independent Ghana their "Man of the Millennium". But although Nkrumah triumphantly led Ghana to independence in 1957, by February 1966 he had been overthrown in a coup and spent the remaining six years of his life languishing in exile.

Motorway Micturation in Glorious Ghana

Here's one for the weekend.

Only in Ghana will you find someone stop and urinate in full view of, erm, commuters on no less than...a motorway!

Good grief...

Picture has been made fuzzy to protect the innocent;-)

Happy travels for your weekend!

Ghana Road Indiscipline...

...could be the only explanation for this broken-down truck, parked on the shoulder of the Tema motorway.

Despite Ghana's National Road Safety Commission, Ghanaian drivers--many of who are illiterate as far as road signs are concerned--continue to cause serious accidents!

I think it's time the NRSC did some serious outreach!

Strange Signboards near Accra-Tema Motorway...Shame on Corporate Ghana!

I love the Accra-Tema motorway--and not just because it's Ghana's historical legacy to its people, having been established since 1964 by the BBC's greatest African of the twentieth century Dr.Kwame Nkrumah.

It's the route I like to take to cross to the the much-blogged-about Accra Mall--every day after work.

I decided to catch these signs for one reason--the bottom line.

These signs advertising BARCLAYS BANK; MTN; and PIERRE CARDIN are so out of place and out of touch it's not funny. The route is calling for a foot bridge so desperately, as an increasing number of Ghanaians--and foreigners--use that very convenient shortcut to cross from Accra Mall to East Legon.

Instead of authorities of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly realising [is that what local metropolitan authorities do?] that there are serious risks and dangers associated with the Accra-Tema motorway, it seems like they want accidents before they do something about it. Even then, I wonder.

I point the finger primarily at the AMA; and secondly to the above-mentioned companies that are seeking nothing more than the bottom line! You don't mind Ghanaians taking risks to cross the road to MTN or whatever, yet you are less inclined to advocate safety first!

Shame on you three!

(Nana Yaw, I appreciate your discerning eye for my paradoxes--I guess this takes the biscuit!)

Are Ghanaians that Crazy about Drink?

Sometimes, it's the multinationals that drive people to drink, because I cannot for the life of me understand the subliminal messages being given of a huge monument exhorting people to drink right next to a motorway !

enjoy the weekend, and I'm sure you'll make it a safe one!

The Two-Lane Tema Motorway Invites Speed...

...just like any motorway would.

Ghana's National Road Safety Commission only last week launched a call centre, which seeks:

...to check careless driving on our roads.

At the launch of the Call Centre yesterday in Accra, Noble John Appiah, Executive Director of NRSC said, "The Call Centre is another tool from the NRSC to enable road users contribute to and partner the Commission, in the development and implementation of road safety programmes and activities".

Furthermore,

The Call Centre will primarily focus on answering inbound calls across the country on road safety related enquiries, complaints and emergencies. These inbound calls, which are toll- free, will provide the general public with the opportunity to report moving and stationary violations as well as road safety related fraud and corruption.

It will also give people the opportunity to dial 10800 for Kasapa subscribers and 0800-10800 on G[hana] T[elecom] users to report and enquire about road safety issues.

I am wondering whether I should call next time when I see a scene like this, where the taxi I was in when I took this picture was travelling on the outside lane, when a big van like the one in the picture deemed it necessary to travel on the first;-)

It's always dicey chosing when to call; but not calling is what some might call an "evil", no?

Accra-Tema Motorway: Is this the Extent of our Bilingualism (Vitesse / Speed)?

Less an indictment about Ghana's bilingual policy (we are bordered by francophone Togo to the east of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire to the West)and more an excuse to reveal some information about the Accra-Tema motorway, I could only cull this from another source:

When the Accra-Tema Motorway was opened to traffic in 1964, it was mainly to link two major cities — Accra, the national capital, and Tema, the emerging industrial and port city.

At that time, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the visionary, foresaw heavy vehicular traffic building between the two cities, reaching its peak when his dream of transforming Tema into the industrial hub of the newly-independent Ghana began to materialise.

Those who were old enough will recollect that in those days once one exited Accra, the only place of call was Tema, unless, of course, one was continuing towards Ho and beyond or Aflao, the country’s eastern gateway.

Today, 43 years later, the Accra-Tema Motorway cannot be said to be playing the same role envisaged at its inauguration.

The Motorway now carries heavy traffic destined for not only Tema and its numerous satellite settlements on the east but also for new communities that have sprung up on the western side...

It may interest you to know that the motorway is a few years younger than Britain's M1 motorway...

Can You Tell Where I am? Google Maps Doesn't Know:-(

I suspect strongly that some day Google Maps might be able to find out that I am sitting by a computer in East Legon.

In a different take from usual posts, I thought I'd give you this entry as an insight into how our GPRS-enabled mobile service providers (this case Onetouch is able to allow us check email (see on the right)--and now, thanks to Google, even help us locate where we are in town!

I did a search and the satellite was able to, after some five minutes, locate Brussels and even the motorway there. Regrettably Google Maps couldn't find the Tema motorway--though it was able to find Tema (as you can see above).