Articulated trucks take over shoulders of roads in Tema

BENJAMIN XORNAM GLOVER 

20 OCTOBER 2015

Some of the articulated trucks parked on the shoulders of the road in Community 1

The haphazard manner in which articulated trucks have been parked along some major streets in the Tema Metropolis has become a source of concern for road users.

Every available space on the precincts of the port of Tema has been turned into a parking lot for articulated trucks which have come to fish for cargo to transport.

Along the Meridian Road, right from the Community Three traffic lights, the Rotary Avenue and the Tema Polyclinic Area, articulated trucks have taken over the shoulders of the road, posing a threat to other road users.

In addition, the drivers and their mates have turned sections of the shoulders of the streets  into their abode, creating sanitation challenges as they bath and defaecate in open spaces due to the absence of sanitary facilities.

That aside, road engineers maintain that the constant smearing of gas oil on the surface of the roads due to maintenence works carried out by mechanics on these trucks, affect the durability of the road.

Increased traffic

The Tema Port, which was recently adjudged the best-performing port in West and Central Africa, is currently handling one million Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEUs) of containerised cargo and it is envisioned that in the next 10 to 15 years, that traffic is expected to increase to about 2.2 million TEUs. With this comes the need to develop  a parking space for the large number of haulage trucks seeking to do business at the port.

The Marketing and Public Relations Manager of the port, Paul Asare Ansah, in an interview, said the failure of the metropolitan assembly to match up to the pace of development at the port and the lack of parking spaces for the large number of trucks had forced the truck drivers to park indiscriminately along the major roads in the city.

Mitigation

When contacted, the Metropolitan Chief Executive of Tema, Mr Isaac Ashai Odamtten, said the issue had come to the attention of the assembly and efforts were underway to address it.

While admitting that it was the responsibility of the city authority to plan development, he noted that such planning could not be done in isolation.

"If the port authority would also plan their activities with the city authority in mind, we would have a coordinated plan. We cannot have the port planning separately without involving the assembly and when a problem is created, then we say it is the responsibility of the assembly.

"We knew we had a port infrastructure and ports thrive on haulage and transportation, so why were these interfaces not created?" he questioned

Collaboration

That notwithstanding , Mr Odamtten said, the assembly had identified three likely places to be developed into a parking terminal for the trucks. He said one of the places was located along the Ningo-Prampram area, adding that the assembly was talking with the Haulage Drivers Association to ensure that the menace was reduced.

He disclosed that the assembly was also coming out with a task force to ensure that at least the trucks did not endanger the lives of other road users.

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