TWIN-CITY CHOKED WITH FILTH, VEHICULAR TRAFFIC (PAGE 23, JUNE 2, 2010)

The Twin-City of Sekondi/Takoradi has been engulfed by filth and very heavy vehicular and human traffic.
Many of the street corners in the metropolis, pavements and bus stops have been turned into rubbish dumps and commercial vehicles are forced to use part of the streets as terminals.
Information available to the Daily Graphic indicates that the Sekondi -Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly owes the waste collectors.
Apart from this, the assembly’s own waste departments are not equipped to handle the worsening situation.
Mud and sand from the recent floods in the metropolis settled at one of the busy bus stops on the Sekondi/Takoradi High Street, therefore, “trotros” and taxicabs plying the road have to use part of the street as a parking lot.
Even though some residents cleared the choked gutters, the waste had been left on the shoulders of the street and this eventually ends up in the gutters again.
The city authorities have actually lost control of the situation and in many parts of the city rubbish has piled up and is emitting a very bad odour which is a threat to the health of residents.
Residents of New Site in the Twin-City who were interviewed said when the sun shines after it has rained they find it very difficult to eat or breathe due to the stench.
That aside, many of the well-designed pedestrian walkways on the shoulders of the street have been turned into rubbish dumps and pedestrians are forced to share the streets with the vehicles, which is dangerous.
Besides, the number of vehicles in the metropolis has increased and there is little or no parking space for them. As a result visitors to the central business district have to park on the street corners and walk long distances to transact business.
To control the traffic situation, the metropolitan assembly has been clamping vehicles that park on the shoulders of the street.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the assembly to find out why it has been clamping the vehicles when it had not provided enough parking lots for the visitors to the metropolis, the writer was told that the clamping was to raise more revenue for the assembly, and not only to deter people from parking there.
One of the officers who clamps the vehicles said if there was no space for them to park, the vehicle owners should not come into the metropolis with their vehicles.
Shop owners also said their sales are declining because shoppers or visitors to their shops complain of lack of parking spaces for vehicles.
“They harass our customers too much. For example if a customer is coming to buy goods worth GH¢10 and he or she will have his or her vehicle tyres clamped and asked to pay GH¢40.00 before the vehicle is released, they will not come”, one of the shop owners said.