Driver convicted of spilling concrete on road
Three persons have been convicted of spilling concrete on a public road at Abavana Junction, along the Pigfarm-Kwame Nkrumah Circle stretch in Accra.
The convicts, a driver and two supervisors, were arrested on Tuesday, January 25, for spilling concrete on a road, in contravention of the Revised Road Traffic Regulation 2012 (L.I. 2180), Regulation 113, Sub-regulation (1), which criminalises those activities.
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They are Tahiru Faisal, the driver; Emmanuel Sogah-Burns, an engineer/supervisor, and Stephen Donkor, an operator.
Faisal, who drives a Ford Concrete Pump Truck, with registration number GN 8042-20, was fined GH¢2,400, while Sogah-Burns an engineer and supervisor at Sobtech Engineering Consultancy, was fined GH¢600.
Donkor, who operates the mixer, was also sentenced to a fine of GH¢600.
Law
The Revised Road Traffic Regulation 2012 (L.I 2180), Regulation 113, Sub-regulation (1) states, among others, that: “A person shall not deposit construction material or equipment on the road in a manner that is likely to impede traffic, cause danger, nuisance or injury to a person or damage to property.”
Sub-regulation (2) also states: “A person who contravenes Sub-regulation (1) commits an offence and is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not below 25 penalty units and not more than 50 penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not more than three months or to both.”
The three were put before the Accra District Court on January 27 and convicted to pay the fines.
Background
The Daily Graphic published an investigative report on the activities of concrete producers in and around Accra last year which exposed the companies as the culprits behind the spillages that were overwhelming road users.
On September 11, last year, it reported that concrete spills by mixer trucks were destroying asphalt roads, endangering the lives of motorists and had become a nuisance in Accra.
The story said the spills usually occurred when concrete was being transported to construction sites and when residual concrete was washed from mixer trucks onto road surfaces after delivery.
In spite of it being an offence, the situation has been worsening by the day with the increase in development and construction activities in the city.
Reacting to the situation after the initial report, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta, told the Daily Graphic that the ministry had begun processes to control the situation.
He said it had already compiled a list of companies in the industry and would meet with the leadership for a dialogue on how to end the occurrences.
Committee
The ministry inaugurated a committee in December last year to deal with truck drivers who spilled pre-mixed concrete on roads and in the environment.
The committee, which started work last month and comprised representatives of the ministry, the MTTD and the Chamber of Construction Companies, has the mandate to stop the spillage of concrete on roads and the environment and bring offenders to book.
Ahead of the committee’s work, Mr Amoako-Atta held a meeting with representatives of concrete mixing companies to impress on them to desist from perpetrating the menace.
The meeting was attended by some stakeholders in the sector, contractors, officials from the MTTD and some directors of the ministry.
“We are going to work closely, monitor and arrest the culprits,” the minister said.