Taskforce maintains law, order in Accra central
The Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council has deployed a team to the central business district of Accra to remove structures that obstruct pedestrian movement to reduce congestion in the area.
The action is intended to enforce discipline and orderliness in the area.
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Currently, the spillover of traders onto the pavements within the neighbourhood of the Farisco Traffic Light to UTC along the Kwame Nkrumah Avenue have been removed, while the median and other road reservations have also been cordoned off.
It has rid the area of the brisk business on the shoulders of the road usually characterised by human congestion.
Amid the supposed serenity last Tuesday, some patrol vans mounted with loud speakers issued caution to traders to desist from selling on the streets, while directing pedestrians to walk on the pavements.
The new development has, however, hardly impacted the vehicular traffic situation in the area.
Indeed, some commercial vehicles continue to use the bus stops and shoulders of the road as terminals, creating a heavy traffic from the Farisco Traffic Light to areas around the UTC.
Response team
One of the members of the special taskforce, Mr Isaac Adu, told the Daily Graphic that they were operating in phases and the first phase was to prevent encroachment on the pavement.
He said the second phase would involve enforcing road traffic regulation in the area to address the traffic situation.
Mr Adu said their operation started from 5:30 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m. each day, and all traders who flouted basic rules were arrested and their items seized.
Greenery process
The Regional Minister, Mr Henry Quartey, said the deployment of the response team was a new strategy currently at the pilot stage.
If it works, he said, it would be extended to all busy areas within the region to ensure that the vision of bringing some orderliness and discipline in Accra was realised.
Mr Quartey said the RCC would also liaise with the Forestry Commission to begin a greenery project to plant some ornamental trees in medians and other road extensions in the region to protect such places from encroachment and misuse.