Road Crashes On Ascendency in Assin

By Naabenyin Joojo Amissah

Residents in the sprawling township of Assin Damang and its immediate environs have expressed concern over the avoidable road accidents, which have been on the ascendency in the area for some time now.

According to them, no single month passes without a resident being maimed or killed. From January to December 2016, a total of 38 accidents occurred within the district, in which ten people lost their lives. Out of this figure, eleven of them occurred within the first quarter of the year.

From January to April this year, seventeen road accidents had already occurred in the district, a situation that is raising the anger of the residents. This shows an increase of six, when compared with last year's figure.

In an interview with The Chronicle, some of the residents were unhappy with the development, and called for urgent action to stop it. A farmer, Kwame Nsowah, a resident of Manso, recounted how two young persons, Peter Nkum, aged 21, and Patrick Agyapong, 25 years, were knocked down on the shoulders of the road by an over-speeding vehicle on Christmas eve last year. Peter Nkum, he said, lost his life in the process.

Due to the road crashes in the area, many children have become orphans, while others have become disabled. When this reporter visited the area, he discovered that the roads at Atobease, Beasease, Dadieso, Ayinabirem and Assin Nsuta had all developed potholes. Those at Kyenaso, Assin Nkran, Akyease, Assin Asamankese and Assin Kwaata were no different.

Another thing worthy of note is the fact that most of the communities where the fatalities are rampant are located along the Cape Coast-Assin Foso main road, which leads to Obuasi and Kumasi, which is a very busy route.

When contacted, the Assin South District Police Commander, ASP Andam Okyere, admitted that there was an alarming rate of road crashes in the area, and attributed the situation to carelessness on the part of drivers, in their desire to get to their destinations early, which leads to over-speeding.

He promised that his outfit would continue to embark on vigorous education on the need for drivers and pedestrians to observe common road safety regulations.

The Assin South District Chief Executive, Mr. Derrick Owusu Ambrose, in an interview with The Chronicle, said the rate of the accidents in the district had become a matter of great concern to the District Assembly.

"We are, therefore, not resting on our oars at all. Since I was approved by my honourable assembly members to become the DCE, I have started making moves to Cape Coast to meet with the appropriate authorities to get the poor road situation solved," he said.

To him, the National Road Safety Commission and the Police Motor Traffic Transport Department (MTTD) must intensify road safety campaigns and educate drivers who ply the roads. "I am sure that if we are able to educate all the driver associations and unions in the region, through periodic sensitisation workshops, the canker on our roads here can be reduced," Mr. Ambrose added.

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