The Mallam-Tetteh Quarshie (N1 Road Project), Implications For Persons With Disabilities And Other Pedestrians

For sometime now, CODGHA has been monitoring ongoing road projects in the country and paramount among such projects is the Mallam-Tetteh Quarshie N1 Road Project. The three lane 14km carriageway is expected to be handed over to the government of Ghana by 15th February 2012. The road is expected to improve travel time, ease congestion, and facilitate the transportation of goods to other ECOWAS countries. During the construction phase of the project, the contractors adhered to safety regulations and best practices that were demanded of them. Temporarily regulatory signs such as speed limit, pedestrian crossing and other road signs were provided to facilitate the usage of the road. They even went further to provide materials to educate their workers and pedestrians on HIV/AIDS by providing AIDS alert signage at various sections where construction activities were ongoing. We find it very intriguing despite all these successes by the construction firms, they seemed to have embarked on this project without thinking about persons with disabilities (PWD�s) and other road users in the area. As we speak, all footbridges that have been constructed at Aboafunu, Apenkwa, Abrante Spot, Kata International Hostel, and Been to Complex can not be used by persons with disabilities. One would have expected the engineers, contractors and government to have been mindful of the Disability Law which mandates that every public facility should have avenues where persons with disability can use the facility just as everyone. Anyway, where are the human rights advocates who were seen leading the course for the disability act to be passed? Anyway, there can not be a decoupling between the road construction and the people that the road is been constructed for them, for development must be done by the people, with the people, and for the people. These footbridges that were mentioned in the third paragraph were constructed without taking in account where they were actually needed. This explains why we find residents scaling the barriers in order to get to the other end of the road. Our Resolve: With immediate effect, we want the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) and Government to put in measures that would make the road accessible to persons with disabilities. MiDA should also consider constructing another footbridge in between Abrante Spot and Apenkwa. Ideally this footbridge should be cited at Nii Boye Junction since our field investigations has shown that, this is where majority of pedestrians especially school children cross the road to board transport to their various destinations. We believe when this is done, lives that are been lost as a result of frequent car knock downs would be reduced. Despite all these odds, we want to express our great appreciation to the US Government and the contractors for seeing to the completion of the road as promised.