TRUCKS CREATE CONGESTION IN SEKONDI=TAKORADI ...(PAGE 25)

STORY: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Sekondi

THIS year’s cocoa season is here again and the number of haulage trucks in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis has increased. This has resulted in congestion along the shoulders of the various roads in the metropolis.
The Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA), which some time ago promised to construct a haulage terminal to provide parking lots for the haulage trucks had failed to fulfil its promise.
Cocoa, which is the main cash crop of the country, is mainly shipped to other countries through the Takoradi Port.
The trucks evacuate cocoa beans from various parts of the country to the Takoradi Port. However, due to the limited number of warehouses for storage before onward shipment, the trucks park anywhere, creating so much congestion in the metropolis.
According to some of the cocoa clerks and the haulage truck drivers the Daily Graphic interviewed, the congestion in the districts from where they carted the produce was more than what pertained in the metropolis.
They said though the various marketing companies or shippers directed them to wait until the congestion at the port had minimised before bringing in more cocoa beans, “ we prefer to move to the city because if you don’t even evacuate the produce, the people will sell what we have bought to others.”
To them, the Western Region also has an unpredictable rainfall pattern and bad roads, and if they did not move from the districts to the regional capital, it would get worse should the rain intensify.
These trucks are, therefore parked everywhere in the metropolis, especially at the Fijai Junction, on the shoulders of the road.
During the same season last year, the Shama Ahanta East Metropilitan Assembly promised to provide a truck terminal for those in the haulage industry.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the assembly, Mr John Laste, said one of the problems facing the Assembly was lack of interest by private investors to provide such a facility for use by those in the haulage industry.
He said the assembly was very worried about the dangers posed by those trucks when they parked at unapproved places in the metropolis.
The PRO said to ensure sanity on the roads in the metropolis during the Christmas period and the period of the Ghana 2008 CAN football competition, some private investors in the haulage industry had come forward and a land had been allocated to them at Npintsin for the construction of the truck terminal.
He said when complete, the terminal could take more than 200 heavy duty trucks at a time in addition to providing a resting place, as well as warehouses.
He said the Assembly had realised that investing in warehouse and truck terminals at designated points could be best handled by the private sector, adding that though the Assembly was not in the position to invest in those areas, it was ready to give the necessary assistance to those interested in the sector.
Mr Laste said it was the wish of the Assembly that those in the industry would have a decent place to park and rest.
He said the Ghana Shippers Council was also doing everything possible to ensure that the needed environment was created for its members by providing facilities to help address the problem.
The PRO gave the assurance that the necessary by-law would be enforced after the haulage truck terminals had been completed to decongest the city.