Residents of Pleyo, a farming community in the Yilo Krobo Municipal of the Eastern Region have appealed to authorities of the Ghana Highway Authority to construct speed ramps in the area to save lives.
The highway which runs through the community from Sikabeng to Oterkporlu, they lament continue to threaten the lives of both children and adults who risk being run over by speeding vehicles.
The Dadematse of the area, Emmanuel Tetteh Kwao tells GhanaWeb, the community has rather organized itself to contribute resources and manpower to adopt ingenious ways to slow down speeding vehicles and reduce the risk of knockdowns as a temporal measure.
These measures include the use of unorthodox materials such as laterite as improvised speed ramps in the area.
But the situation remains dire as children are still compelled to cross the road daily to school with residents also forced to cross for various reasons.
They pointed out that the current spate of road crashes and pedestrians being knocked down required immediate action.
The Dadematse of Pleyo said in an interview that the community needed ramps as a matter of urgency to curb the threats posed by the vehicles to the community members.
“We need speed ramps because children cross the road to buy things and also to the school so we’re begging the government to make the speed ramp for us,” said the Dadematse who recalled how a speeding vehicle ran over a child in 2020.
“About a year ago, one of our children died crossing the road, so this is our main problem,” he recounted bitterly.
Asked if the community had spoken to officials of the Ghana Highway Authority about their predicament, the community chief said “we told them and they said they’ll be coming, yet they didn’t come. We are telling them to come and give us some assistance, they should come and do [the ramps] for us.”
Another resident and a unit committee member, Christopher Kwao Kumah shared similar views with GhanaWeb.
Just as enunciated by the Dadematse, he feared the situation if not attended to could pose further threats to the lives of the school pupils who use the road regularly.
“We need the speed ramps, the road is a highway and the way the drivers are speeding is very bad, the school is just nearby and normally the school children when they are on break, they like to cross the road to buy toffees from the shops on the other side,” Christopher Kwao Kumah noted.
He also recalled an accident where a resident was knocked down dead and appealed to the authorities to come to the aid of the community.
James Tetteh Narh also said “During break time, they [pupils] use to cross the road to come and buy things here and sometimes, there’s a disturbance from the drivers. Sometimes, armed robbers come here and before you realise, they go so if you have ramps here, I think it can help us.”
Another community member, Stephen Kwao Tetteh also said the problem has compelled the residents to resort to the use of laterite and other materials as an interim measure.
“We have realized that the drivers speed on this road a lot and the children cross often so since our calls have not been heeded, we decided to do this through the self-help community spirit to help ourselves,” Mr. Tetteh noted.
The community members also called on the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly, the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service and the traditional authorities to support their appeal to save people in the area.
