Residents of Ninting and Hwidiem in the Ashanti Region have undertaken an emergency communal labour exercise to clear overgrown vegetation along the Mampong Scarp following a series of accidents that have claimed lives and left several others injured.
The intervention comes after at least three serious crashes were recorded on the four-kilometre stretch of the Kumasi-Asante Mampong-Ejura highway within the past two weeks.
The accidents reportedly resulted in at least one death, while several injured victims are receiving treatment at the Mampong Government Hospital and other health facilities.
Motorists who regularly use the road blamed the accidents partly on thick vegetation along the shoulders of the highway.
“Plying this road becomes difficult when the road becomes bushy. Just three days ago there was an accident here which claimed three lives. Highways claims it is the duty of Road Safety to clear it, but they are not doing it,” a commercial driver, Charles Oduro, said.
Concerned about the increasing accidents, residents of Ninting and Hwidiem mobilised to clear the bushes along the entire stretch from the GBC Television Station Junction at Ninting to Jamasi.
The exercise received support from the Mampong Municipal Assembly and the Municipal Office of the Department of Urban Roads.
Leading the exercise, the Assembly Member for the Ninting/Hwidiem Electoral Area, Nicholas Osei-Wusu, described the overwhelming public participation as an example of patriotism and community spirit.
He praised residents for their commitment to national development through communal labour.
“Your support from day one of my tenure has been overwhelming. Your response to National Sanitation Day and this exercise is mind-boggling,” he said.
The Mampong Municipal Chief Executive, Yakubu Issifu, also commended the communities for taking the initiative to improve road safety.
Sharing his personal experience of responding to one of the recent crashes, he described the communal exercise as a timely intervention that could help save lives.
He also announced plans to visit the communities on a thank-you tour and encouraged residents to present their priority development needs for consideration by the Municipal Assembly.
During the event, the Municipal Chief Executive accepted an appeal by the Assembly Member to provide street bulbs to restore lighting in parts of Ninting that have remained in darkness for several months.
By Ernest Kofi Adu