I am aware that an island is a piece of land completely surrounded by water. An islet is a smaller island; but how do we call wild bush, tall grasses growing in-between designed pavements?
A common scenario is between Adentan Barrier, stretching to the 37 Military Hospital and beyond. This has been a source of worry to all concerned citizens who ply that route. It is not only along the major routes, but are spread all over. It is a shame! Why this level of apathy in the city?
The decorated sections in-between the newly constructed roads are overgrown with weeds on all sides. I am wondering whether we should call those areas weed-lands, grasslands, bush, inland ports or ?bola?-lands. Portions of the grasslands are filled with refuse. It still comes down to attitude ? our attitude generally!!
Take a close look along the main Adentan/Madina/Legon Electricity Corporation road; Legon (uncompleted) Stadium; Legon Shell Filling Station; Ghana Standards Board; Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout; DSTV Offices; National Service Secretariat to The Congress Hotel; Ashanti Gardens apartment area to Kawukudi Junction (including a portion where a police patrol vehicle is usually packed).
Which company is supposed to be clearing those weeds, inland ports or grasslands? Is it the Parks and Gardens? Zoomlion? Or Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA)? These places can be cleared for beautiful and healthy flowers to be planted, and catered for.
In fact, hese bushes growing right in the middle of the road could be described as ?ever-green forests.? Some of them have been there for more than 15 years.
Day-in-day-out our prayer has been that whoever is in- charge must wake up to their responsibilities. This has become an uphill task and a nuisance which is not expected in the centre of the city of Accra ? the nation?s capital. If it is pavement blocks that are supposed to be laid, what is causing the delay all these years? If these portions are meant for gardens, the city authorities must let the citizens know. This is the rainy season; we could grow vegetables like garden-eggs, tomatoes, onions, pepper, et cetera. Any passer-by could park his or her vehicle, harvest some and continue the journey. The construction of overhead bridges between Adentan Barrier and Madina Market has also stalled. This has made it difficult for commuters ? both young and old ? to keep struggling to cross the road from one side to the other.
Spanner Junction at the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange is another very busy area where crossing the road to the Shoprite or Spintex area is always a tug-of-war. Crossing to or from the 37 Bus Stop and 37 Hospital is always risky. I lost a relative recently when he attempted crossing the road to visit his sick son at the 37 Military Hospital.
I commend the construction firm working on the America House/Samanpom Roundabout. Even though work is still on-going, pavement blocks are already being laid. I hope it will not be abandoned as usual, but will be completed to make the area beautiful and neat.
The frontage of M-Plaza Hotel at Roman Ridge is well kept. A few other frontages (homes or offices) are neatly greened; others are laced with chippings or concreted, with beautiful flowers planted within.
I witnessed a funny scenario along the Tema Motorway last week. A man was standing upright pretending to be weeding along the road. I am sure his employers would pretend to pay his wages. What is the sense in weeding along Motorway when the center of the city is overgrown with wild bushes?
This is s-e-r-i-o-u-s!
By Rose Asamoah
