2nd Phase Kaneshie Station rehabilitation begins

12/05/08
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
‘TROTRO’ and taxi drivers at the Kaneshie Market Lorry Station have been moved outside the station to make way for the rehabilitation of the station.
The drivers now park their vehicles on the roads outside the station, while others park on the main Kaneshie-Odorkor road.
The Accra Market Limited, operators of the Kaneshie Market Complex, moved the drivers outside the station on Monday, May 5, 2008, to start the second phase of the rehabilitation work.
The first phase, which involved site clearing, earth works, gravelling and crash rock filling, started in July 2006 and completed in April 2007.
The second phase, which involves the cleaning of the lorry station, sectional area patching and final sealing, started on Tuesday, May 6, 2008.
The management of the Accra Market Limited engaged the services of the Zoomlion Waste Management Company to clean the market and remove all foreign materials, including plastics and bottles.
According to Mr Kwaku Kra-Gyamera, the Managing Director of the Accra Market Limited, the gravelling would start by Friday, and that soon after, the final sealing would be done with bitumen and chippings.
He said a car park for customers, 26 offices and rest rooms would be put up for the leadership of the various stations, and indicated that the lorry station could take 100 33-seater buses and 20 taxi cabs at a go, he said.
Mr Kwaku Kra-Gyamera said initially the estimated cost of the project was GH¢106,000 but due to the delay in executing the first phase by the contractor, the company spent GH¢125,300 on the first phase of the project.
That, he said, had shot up the cost of the total project to GH¢170,000, and indicated that the first phase was financed with a loan from the National Investment Bank (NIB), while the second phase was being financed from the resources of the company.
Mr Kwaku Kra-Gyamera gave the assurance that the rehabilitation work would be completed by Sunday, April 18.
He said soon after, the drivers would be allowed back to the station.
According to Mr Kwaku Kra-Gyamera, his outfit was now losing revenue as some of the drivers had stopped coming to the area because of the fall in their business.
Besides, he said, those on the Kaneshie-Odorkor road paid their tolls directly to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
Mr Kwaku Kra-Gyamera noted that the activities of the drivers created inconvenience to residents, and indicated that his outfit had already appealed to the residents to allow the drivers to use the roads for the time being.
He urged the drivers to comport themselves and refrain from indiscriminate hooting of horns or urinating everywhere.
“The residents are patiently tolerating us. So you do not have to do anything to add to their inconvenience,” Mr Kra-Gyamera requested.
There are over 700 trotro vehicles and about 40 taxi cabs using the station. There are 25 stations, plying in and outside the Kaneshie Market Lorry Station.
The inner routes include Abeka Lapaz, Nima-Maamobi and Achimota while the long distance include Kumasi, Nkawkaw, Agona Swedru and Suhum.
Passengers are seen moving from one area to the other asking drivers and conductors of the location of their respective stations.
Some of the drivers complained of low patronage due to the inability of many passengers to locate their respective stations.
According to Addo Blay, a ‘trotro’ driver plying Kaneshie-Madina, some of his colleagues had stopped coming to the station due to the fall in their income.
He said some passengers now picked direct vehicles to Circle to connect to their respective destinations to avoid the inconvenience of struggling to locate the vehicles to their various destinations.
Trading activities at the market has also gone down as many customers who use vehicles have stopped coming to the market as they do not have a space to park their vehicles, according to Mr Kwaku Kra-Gyamera.
The Kaneshie Market Lorry Station is noted for its poor state. It has big potholes and the place becomes muddy whenever it rains.
Drivers find it difficult driving while passengers get their dresses soiled with mud.
With the rehabilitation of the lorry station, drivers and their passengers are expected to be spared the agony of driving and walking in the mud whenever it rains.