Mr. Ebenezer Nyarko, a Kia truck driver who commutes on the Nkruakan-Adukrom-Somanya road, has called for the mounting of danger road signals at the Aseseeso curve in the Okere District of Eastern region.
He made the call after a school bus with a registration number of GV 8422 belonging to Koforidua Secondary Technical Senior High School was involved in an accident which claimed one life.
He told Ghana News Agency in an interview that even before the road was constructed, the Aseseeso curve was claiming lives of innocent people, and duty-bearers have refused to find solutions to curb the menace.
“Before the road was built, if a car doesn’t involve in an accident, armed robbers have been attacking market women at the exact spot” he said.
He said Mr. Abraham Tetteh, an ambulance driver, lost his life to armed robbers at the same spot while transporting a pregnant woman who was in labour from Akuse Government Hospital to Koforidua Central Hospital.
According to him, in April 2024 three people perished in an accident that occurred when a Toyota minivan with a registration number GT 5990-21, travelling from Accra to Kpong, veered off the road and somersaulted into a bush while descending the Aseseaso curvy mountain and claimed three lives
In 2022, Okere District Security closed the Adukrom-Aprede Road after 10 deaths were recorded in a month.
A statement, signed by the DISEC Chairman, Daniel Kenneth, said the closure took effect on October 7, 2022.
Motorists in the wake of the closure have been directed to use the Adukrom-Aseseeso-Trom Junction Road.
“Motorists travelling to Somanya and beyond are to use the Adukrom-Aseseeso-Trom Junction Road, while the district collaborates with Feeder Roads and the National Road Safety Commission to improve the safety of the road,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Aseseeso- Somanya road has also become an accident-prone area recently due to frequent accidents between the Aseseeso curve and Akuni.
At Akuni, two people were killed and another person injured in an accident involving a vehicle belonging to the Abuakwa North Municipal Assembly with registration number GV 1263-20, a Toyota Corolla GR 901-21, and another vehicle with registration number GR 459-21.
The occupants of the Toyota Corolla were a Physical Education (P.E.) teacher, a National Service person, both females, and a cadet instructor of the Yilo Krobo Senior High School (SHS) at Somanya.
The females died on the spot, while the cadet instructor was critically injured and hospitalised.
Recently, a bus belonging to Koforidua Secondary Technical Senior High School was also involved in an accident.
The bus was carrying teaching and non-teaching staff to Akwamufie to mourn with a colleague who has lost his wife when their vehicle veered off the road and crashed into the nearby bush and claimed one life.
Mr. Nyarko said he has seen that contractors are still working on the road markings, but the Aseseeso curve needs big danger road signals starting from Aseseeso township for drivers to know that there’s danger ahead to help reduce the risk of losing innocent lives.
He urged drivers to reduce speed after crossing the Aseseeso township to avoid fatalities.
GNA
DL/ENA
July 8, 2024
