Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has cautioned Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, that he has no authority in any Ghanaian law to ban certain vehicles from plying the Accra-Tema Motorway.
He argued there is no law in Ghana’s law books that cloth the Minister with authority to make declarations banning tricycles from highways in Greater Accra.
According to him, until the right things have been done and road users are offered the opportunity to be responsible, it will be wrong to expect them to do the right things.
The MP gave the warning during an interview in Parliament on Tuesday following an ultimatum issued by the Greater Accra Minister to tricycles popularly referred to as ‘aboboyaa’ that from 1st November, 2021theycan no longer ply Accra highways.
According to the Minister, the major place of concern for the exercise is the Tema Motorway and that the action to rid tricycle operators from the Highways forms part of the ‘Let’s make Accra work Agenda.’
“So, effective November 1, tricycles cannot and will not be allowed to ride on the motorway. So, after the 90 days period, they will be restricted to their respective assemblies rather than on the principal streets… effective November 1, as for the Tema Motorway they cannot ride on it, they can continue their business in other areas,” he declared.
However, speaking on the ban Mr. Kwame Agbodza noted that the only reason that the Minister can stop any road user including pedestrians, cyclists and Trotro drivers is when they fail to demonstrate that their vehicles are registered or have the proper road worth certificates or are driving unsafely on the road.
“There is no law in this country that stops anybody from using the road. We all want to help him do his job better but it appears he is taking on responsibilities that he cannot back with any law in this country.”
“We are cautioning him; if he wants to make changes to this he should liaise with the Minister for Roads and Transport through the appropriate agencies for them to bring appropriate laws to this House to be passed,” he stated.
The Adaklu legislator noted that the biggest problem on Ghana’s roads today is the nature of the road itself and not the road users alone.
Ghana, he said, does not have enough roads and where the roads even exist most are in very bad shape and riddled with huge potholes with some exceeding their capacities many years ago like the Tema Motorway.
He averred that in other to have a holistic solution to the situation, a combination of things should be done and stressed the roads should be in their best conditions before the laws on them can be enforced.
“If you have a road without proper signage or road furniture, how are you going to blame somebody if the person doesn’t know what the speed limit on the particular road is,” he queried?
Source: Mypublisher24.com