TAMALE SUFFERS FROM POOR MAINTENANCE CULTURE (PAGE 28, DEC 4)

POOR maintenance culture has been cited as the major cause of the frequent breakdown of traffic and street lights in the Tamale metropolis.
The sprawling city was considered one of the brightest metropolises in the country, particularly when it hosted the African Cup of Nations (CAN) 2008. However, residents of the area are currently apprehensive because the city is likely to lose its enviable status.
Street lights from the Afajura Mosque to the Barclays Bank stretch have not been functioning properly due to lack of maintenance.
The street lights from the Choggu Roundabout to Gurugu are equally faulty, as they go off and on at any time.
Regrettably, the traffic lights are also facing the same problem. Traffic lights around the Central Mosque, Sakasaka, are all faulty and, as is to be expected, accidents do occur, particularly in the central business district (CBD).
Although members of the community police do assist by directing traffic in the CBD, the situation degenerates into chaos when they are not available to perform that function.
In the midst of that situation, drivers who think they have the right of way disregard other road users such as bicycle and motor riders and pedestrians, thereby causing unnecessary congestion and traffic jam within the CBD.
During the Second Ordinary Meeting of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TAMA), the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Alhaji Abdulai Haruna Friday, acknowledged the seeming poor maintenance culture, resulting in the breakdown of the street lights in the metropolis.
He announced that management had taken a decision to rehabilitate all the street and traffic lights to enhance security and reduce accidents on the roads.
“Rehabilitation work on all existing faulty streetlights has just commenced and work is expected to be completed by the end of the month,” he explained.
According to the MCE, the metropolis would have the honour of hosting this year’s National Farmers Day today in grand style and “we must take advantage of it”.
“To showcase the best from the metropolis, we are also working hard at getting Signals and
Controllers, the company which is responsible for maintaining traffic lights, to come and attend to the faulty ones,” he stated.