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Call it a case of negligence by a state agency or, typical Ghanaian attitude of waiting for disaster to strike before acting, and you will not be far from painting the exact picture of the hellish experience drivers in Accra go through, especially at the Borstal Institute junction around the Airport residential area.

Currently, there seem to be no limit to the erection of directional signs, billboards etc at various intersections in the metropolis, but that at the Borstal Institute junction, off the Patrice Lumumba road to the National Service Secretariat, leaves much to desire as it is certainly a death trap waiting for disaster to strike.

The signboards at the borstal junction off the Patrice Lumumba Street have not only clogged the pavement on that stretch of the road, they are also blocking motorists and pedestrians view thereby impeding traffic flow.

The irony of the dangerous scene is that, the road from the Borstal Institute is hilly and thus makes it very difficult for drivers to stop at the T-junction to locate other vehicles moving from left to right and vice versa on the main road from the Gold House stretch to the National Service Secretariat area.

While the Accra Metropolitan Assembly not too long ago embarked on mass demolition exercise to clear the roads of billboards obstructing visibility at many intersections in the city, it appears the exercise was just a nine day wonder.

Shockingly, this messy scene is not only peculiar to the borstal junction, as reports are that several junctions and intersections and even roundabouts within the nation's capital are in similar sorry state with no commitment from city authorities to stop the nuisance. The Roman Ridge Shopping Arcade junction, near the Saudi Arabia Embassy for example, is also one of such junctions in the capital where the messy scene is creating difficulties for drivers.

Drivers who use the borstal junction complained that they find it very difficult to locate approaching vehicles from opposite directions of the road, a situation they say if not checked could one day cause deadly accident.

The drivers could not fathom why the AMA, whose Mayor was recently adjudged best Mayor in Africa, would look on to allow organizations to mount advertising and directional signs to obstruct visibility.

“The AMA is just being reckless with the management of the city. I think they are only interested in taking signage fees…they supervise the mounting of these advertising signs. I can’t believe it. Is the AMA telling us when they supervised the mounting of these signboards, they couldn’t see it will obstruct visibility,” a commercial driver fumed.

Another driver angrily said “maybe we need to take the law into our own hands by removing these signboards before they kill us one day. The AMA which is supposed to enforce city bye-laws is the one breaking it with impunity. Driving on this road is now a hellish experience.”

Some of the drivers appealed to the AMA to, as a matter of urgency, remove all the signboards to avert future tragedy “if these signboards are not removed immediately, the country is likely to witness one of the deadliest catastrophe in the foreseeable future.”