Story by Nathaniel Nartey
Facebook: Nathaniel Nartey
Twitter: @Annertey_Nartey
Some workers of the Company involved in the construction of the Pokuase Interchange, Zhongmei Engine Group have been fingered in the stealing of crush barriers on the Pokuase-Kwabenya stretch of the Interchange and the destruction of street lights of other parts in an attempt to steal them.
The Company has however replaced the stolen crush barriers at a cost of $3,500 dollars and repaired the damaged street lights at a cost of 4,000 Cedis each.
Our reporter Nathaniel Nartey toured the newly constructed Pokuase Interchange to inspect the edifice and reports that the replaced crush barriers have been welded in addition to the bolt and nuts in place to ensure it is not easily dismantled.
The usual traffic that appears visible at Pokuase where roads from Kwabena, Ofankor barrier, Awoshie, Amasaman and adjoining towns meet was absent with personnel from the Police MTTD scattered around, an indication that the Interchange is serving its actual purpose.
Barely three months after the project was inaugurated by President Akufo-Addo, the crush barriers on the Pokuase-Kwabenya stretch of the Interchange were stolen while 12 street lights got damaged in an attempt to steal them.
The thieves made away with 10 crush barriers each measuring 4 feet.
The barriers in question are mounted on a cliff to prevent vehicles using a service road from the Victoria College area at Pokuase from falling over from a height of about three metres onto the road from Kwabenya towards the main interchange.
GBC NEWS can confirm that all the bolt and nuts used to secure the crush barriers in the Pokuase Interchange have been welded in addition to replaced ones which were stolen.
External operations manager for Zhongmei engineering group limited, Desmond Yaw Hodanu Bedi suggest that the burglary is an inside job, adding that the case is currently under investigation by the Police.
“What we have done is to weld all bolts and nuts for all the crush barriers and hand rails. The idea is to make it more difficult when you want to remove it. We are looking at around $3,500 as cost of replacement for the stolen crush barriers. Anything metalic is being hunted by scrap dealers, its either they come for it themselves or our workers sell it to them and that has been the norm. Some of the workers have been arrested and some still in court”.
Residents were unwilling to Speak to GBC NEWS for fear of being vilified by the perpetuators.
The four-tier Pokuase Interchange on the Accra-Nsawam-Kumasi road is the first of its kind in West Africa and was inaugurated by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on July 9, 2021.
The project involved the construction of the 6.5-kilometre Awoshie-Pokuase Road, an interchange at the intersection of the ACP Junction to Awoshie to Nsawam road, two footbridges, the widening of the Nsawam Road by some two kilometres (km), drainage works, the provision of street lights and the construction of 12km of town roads.
