Cape Coast-Ghana, Sept. 07, GNA – Mr Solomon Quarm, District Chief Executive (DCE) of Gomoa East, has called for the urgent construction of speed bumps on the Gomoa Potsin and Gomoa Okyereko stretches of the Accra – Cape Coast highway to mitigate the high incidence of accidents around those areas.
He said angry residents along the areas could no longer countenance the recurring accidents and had vowed to build the speed bumps themselves if authorities failed to act.
He made the call at a Central Regional Coordinating Council meeting in Cape Coast.
The National Road Safety Authority has identified Potsin and Okyereko as major accident hotspots in the Central Region.
The region recorded 99 deaths in 600 road crashes from January to June this year, with a good number of the crashes happening at the two spots.
It may be recalled that it was reported on Friday, July 21 that a Metro Mass Transit travelling from Accra to Cape Coast ran into a stationary vehicle at Potsin, leading to 17 people sustain varying degrees of injuries.
An accident at Tonisco Junction near Potsin involving four cars resulted in severe injuries to a couple on Monday, July 31.
On the same day, fifty passengers sustained minor injuries with two others in critical conditions in an accident involving several cars at Okyereko.
Two police officers also sustained severe injuries at after their vehicle collided with a tipper truck at Potsin on Tuesday, August 1.
On Saturday, August 26, 2023, an accident involving a DAF Cargo Truck and a Hyundai minibus claimed eight lives and left seven others injured.
Mr Quarm observed that car knockdowns alone had killed eight people at the Akyempem Onion Market at Dominase near Potsin just recently.
“I have made countless calls for speed bumps, but the authorities have failed to do it because they say the road is an international road.
“I have written so many letters, but I don’t receive any response. Now, the people are angry and will not listen to any more explanations from me,” he said.
Given the spate of crashes and deaths, he said a radical intervention had become non-negotiable.
