ECYPTIAN COMPANY TO BLAME (PAGE 29)

Story: Zakaria Alhasan, Tamale

RESIDENTS of Tamale have expressed worry over the inability of the Egyptian contractors working on the street lighting project in the metropolis to tidy up the pavements they damaged in the course of their work.
As a result, most of the drains are covered with heap of sand, thus preventing the free passage of water into the drains whenever it rains.
The fear of most people is that as the northern Ghana is gradually entering the main rainy season, the situation could lead to flooding in some areas.
Ironically, the choked drains in the metropolis were cleared at a huge cost to the taxpayer a couple of weeks before the commencement of the project. The exercise was supervised by the Department of Urban Roads in Tamale.
The street lighting project has not only resulted in the choking of the drains but has also led to the partial destruction of pavements along the beautifully laid-out roads in the city.
The construction of the pavement was part of the over GH¢500,000 Non-Motorists Transport Project that was executed in 2003.
Its provision has not only ensured the safety of pedestrians but has also helped to give a facelift to the city in beautifying the roads and houses along them.
A 39-year-old resident, Alhaji Mumuni Issah, wondered ‘‘why we don’t always seem to get our priorities right. Why did they not include the street light project when they were constructing the roads?” He asked.
‘‘I will blame the situation on residents of this area. Why do they always have to sit down unconcerned for people to come and do whatever they want and go away?” Asked Ms Adisah Mohammed, a food vendor.
‘‘Maybe they need to be sensitised to know that they have a stake in whatever development project that is brought to this area; it is high time we became active in such works rather than always being p assive,’’ she added.
A 25-year-old teacher, Abu Iddi, however, holds a contrary view. According to him, the metropolis would continue to experience such situations until some of them began to separate chieftaincy and politics in regard to development issues.
When the attention of the Co-ordinating Director of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, Alhaji Adam Mohammed Baba, was drawn to the lapses, he acknowledged its repercussions in affected areas and promised to contact the contractors to rectify the situation soon.
‘‘Indeed the first phase of the lighting project that covered a distance of 31 kilometres was done in a rush to meet the deadline for the commencement of CAN 2008,’’ he said.
The director, however, gave the assurance that the second phase would be done with caution. In all, a distance of about 64 kilometres would be covered in the entire street lighting project in the metropolis.
A development engineer of the Urban Roads Department in Tamale, Mr Charles Abuga Peh, confirmed that it was the responsibility of the contractors to reconstruct the pavement and also tidy up the place.
He added that even though the contractors agreed to do that after the second phase of the project, he promised to immediately impress upon them to begin the work.