Speaker Summons Transport Minister Over Crashes

The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has summoned the Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, to come and brief Parliament on measures the ministry is putting in place to curb the growing spate of accidents on the roads.

The minister has been given two weeks to appear before the House and brief members on such measures to make this Christmas accident-free.

This order was given following a statement made in Parliament yesterday by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Ledzokuku, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, on avoidable accidents on the roads and heavy vehicular traffic in Accra.

The Ledzokuku MP bemoaned the recklessness of some drivers leading to avoidable accidents and the death of innocent people.

He said the recklessness of a tipper truck driver nearly caused the death of a deputy Minister of Communications, George Andah, in a dangerous crash on the Accra-Winneba road at the weekend.

He has therefore called for the prosecution of drivers who drive carelessly on the road.

Dr Okoe Boye also expressed concern over pedestrians being knocked down by speeding vehicles on the N1 highway and the Madina-Adentan highway and asked the Ministry of Roads and Highways to provide more footbridges on those important highways in Accra.

For his part, the NPP MP for Adentan, Yaw Buaben Asamoah, accused the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) which executed that project for failing to add finishing touches to the Madina-Adentan highway but rather decided to fix substandard streetlights for political gains.

According to him, the ruling NPP government is poised to fix all abandoned footbridges on the Adentan-Madina road which are claiming innocent lives.

Most MPs who contributed to the statement expressed great worry over the spate of accidents in the country of late.

Source: Daily Guide