A transport consultant, Magnus Quarshie is asking the Ghana Police Service to provide alternative routes to prevent the anticipated heavy traffic in the next two days.
He was of the opinion that the situation is unlikely to be different from the vehicular traffic which was witnessed during the last emergency ECOWAS conference held in Accra last month if the police maintain its current arrangements.
President John Mahama in his capacity as the ECOWAS chairman is hosting a two-day summit at the Movenpick Ambassador hotel in Accra.
The Police has therefore announced major roads within the capital will be closed and officers have been designated to assist motorists to move about smoothly to prevent heavy vehicular traffic.
But the announcement has not been well received by the general public especially persons whose businesses are situated in and around the central business district.
Some have suggested that the meeting be held outside Accra to prevent heavy vehicular traffic.
In an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show, Magnus Quarshie who is also the President of the Ghana Institute of Engineers (GIE) said although the Police has announced the specific roads which will be blocked, they failed to announce alternative routes.
“Which are the alternatives? …all of this must be provided in the form of information,” he said.
He also dismissed the suggestion that individuals should park their private vehicles and join public transports to reduce the number of vehicles in town.
Mr. Quarshie asked; “where is the public transport? And you ask people to go and join public transport.”
He said the public transport solution is not viable because “people have to do 4am just to get to the city center and so if people are parking to do this. It is just unfortunate.”
He acknowledged that the frequent ECOWAS meetings would have to take place in Ghana due to the status of President John Mahama as the ECOWAS chairman.
Mr. Quarshie quickly added that nonetheless, time management should be taken into consideration when organizing such summits because the productivity cannot be hampered during the period.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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