Editorial: Achimota Bus Terminal Must Be Made To Last

The committee that investigated the recent fire outbreak at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attributed the cause of the fire to electrical fault. It also established that the fire defence system of the ministry was poor. But the main thrust of the committee�s report was that the ministry did not have a good maintenance culture which could have prevented such a fire from occurring. The committee was of the firm belief that the incident at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others following closely thereafter, must be regarded as lessons which should spur government on to take proactive measures to give priority to matters relating to maintenance. In our view, the committee could not have done a better job than this. It hit the nail right on the head. This is because the lack of maintenance has been the bane of the country�s development. Millions of Ghana cedis are spent on the construction of huge edifices and monuments, only for them to go waste within some few years, because there was no programme to maintain them. Then we have to go round, cup in hand, and knocking at the doors of donor countries looking for extra money to undertake reconstruction. In some cases the cost of reconstruction becomes bigger than the original amount. On Thursday, amidst pomp and pageantry, the tape-cutting ceremony was held at Achimota, Accra to officially inaugurate the Achimota Bus Terminal. The GH�16.5million facility has a capacity for 800 hundred vehicles, a police post, a clinic, four 20-unit toilet facilities and 10 canteens. Other facilities available are electronic destination boards, waiting sheds for commuters, offices for local drivers unions and close circuit television cameras to rack illegal activities. By all standards, the Achimota terminal is the biggest on the West coast of Africa. But will this national pride not go the way of similar ones, left to deteriorate and become history? This is the question most people are asking and this is the concern of the Times. We think the genuine fears of Ghanaians can best be allayed if the authorities will adopt the correct measures that will make the project stand the test of time. The Times recommends that the project is handed over to professionals who have the requisite background and experience to manage. And they should be given the free hand to carry on their job. Cronies should be kept out.