<<Print>>

In every part of this world, motorways are supposed to be a no-go zone for residential activities and marketing centres. However Ghana�s foremost motorway which has stood the test of time for over forty years is under invasion from the activities of many business tycoons. The Republic newspaper can report that the operations of these elements are aided heavily by so-called original land owners with tacit support from officials at the Urban Roads Department, Town and Country Division, the Lands Commission and other allied institutions. Though the original plan on the Accra-Tema Motorway provides avenue for its extension to more than two carriage way, it seems officials have turned a blind eye to this and are issuing building permits left, right and center. The �Republic�s� news hounds say that the additional provision that the lands in question have been acquired for the public does not ring a bell in the ears of these greedy employees of the state. According to Ghana�s current legal regime, immediately lands are declared compulsorily acquired for public use, title of ownership to individuals, families and traditional authorities is diminished. It is when the state announces its intention not to use them that considerations are given first to the original owners for repossession. In the case of the Accra-Tema Motorway, nothing of such sorts had been announced. A tour of the motorway reveals worrying trends. Shops, houses and factories were seen erected just close to it, giving signals that any future plans to extend the motorway will face hitches. Construction workers were also seen busily working on new buildings. This paper can further report that the activities of these individuals have led to the destruction of pipelines that transmit water from the Kpone pumping station to Accra and its environs. In the end, water being pumped from Kpone does not reach its destination, a situation partly responsible for the acute water shortage in Accra. It was also uncovered that a lot of people dwelling on the motorway have illegally connected water from the pipelines to their homes. Mr. Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, General Manager of Communications at Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) agrees that the company loses revenue from the activities of these miscreants. He told The Republic that the country�s security agencies have to partner AVRL to avert this disaster. �They ought to take action now on these new buildings. It�s not just good. It�s an eye-saw,� he said. When the Accra-Tema Motorway was opened to traffic in 1964, it was mainly to link two major cities � Accra, the national capital, and Tema, the emerging industrial and port city. At that time, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the visionary, foresaw heavy vehicular traffic building between the two cities, reaching its peak when his dream of transforming Tema into the industrial hub of the newly independent Ghana began to materialize. The motorway further links Accra to Ho and beyond Aflao.