As part of measures to control and totally do away with the possible recurrence of flooding on the Tema motorway, the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) intends to reconstruct the culverts under the motorway.
The decision followed the flooding of the Accra-Tema Motorway on Monday after a downpour, rendering the motorway unusable for hours.
Mr Lawrence Lloyd Lankwei Lamptey, the Greater Accra Regional Director of the GHA, made this known to the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Wednesday.
He said the Authority in its investigations to ascertain the cause of the unfortunate incidence discovered that, an Estate Developer, had replaced the already constructed culverts with smaller ones to enable him have easy access to his estate.
“The motorway had a “5 Number 2 metres * 2 metres” cell box culvert fixed below it as a drain”, he said.
“However, the developer closed the culvert, leaving a “2 number 0.9 metres and 0.6 metres pipe culvert to provide easy access to his estate. The culverts he fixed were small, making it impossible to contain the rain water after the heavy downpour.”
Mr Lamptey said the Authority would ensure that the right size culvert was put in place to curb flooding on the motorway.
Speaking about the falling-rocks on the Accra-bound carriageway from Peduase Lodge to Ayi Mensah on the Accra-Aburi road, he explained that, the Authority was still probing to find out those who sold the lands on the rock to developers, since the sale of such lands had been halted for years to prevent such accidents.
Responding to whether houses built on the rock would be demolished in the near future, Mr Lamptey said: “They will have to be demolished so that this incidence will not reoccur.”
He explained that the buildings were directly on the slope, and within the road reservation, which was a hindrance to the protection of the rock.
Per the GHA Authority code, every road has a reservation and for a highway, every activity should be at least 45 metres away from the centre of the road to ensure the safety of the builder and all road users, he said.
He advised the public to develop structures, including offices and houses at least 45 metres away from a road to prevent future actions by government.
“So if a land is sold to you, check to be sure it is not within this 45 metres off a road, because if there is the need for a future expansion, it will affect your structure.”
Source: GNA