Editorial
Check streetlights on Prof Atta-Mills High Street
Please permit me to use your medium to draw attention to some pressing issue. I usually drive past the Professor Atta-Mills High Street and the Independence Square in Accra but never does it occur to me that this stretch of the road poses a great danger to users with 20 dysfunctional streetlights along the stretch.
While that part of the capital city is very busy during the day, with a number of people going about their daily businesses, it’s very surprising to note that the monumental stretch that was named after the late President John Evans Atta-Mills is a dangerous area to walk at night.
Institutions such as the Bank of Ghana, the Supreme Court, the Kwame Nkrumah Museum, the National Lottery Authority, and the Volta River Authority are lined up on the stretch.
In the evenings, it becomes very rare to see anyone walking in the area as it poses a great threat to human lives at that time.
Unlike during the day where a lot of people walk through the streets, in its place in the evenings, there are only the sounds of vehicles.
On one of my usual routines on Thursday, September 2, 2021, from work, as I drove past the High Street, I observed that drivers did not stop at the traffic lights between the Accra Sports Stadium and Independence Square at night due to the pitch darkness.
Also, on the Law Complex Road, I witnessed gross driving indiscipline displayed by drivers who plied that route at night as they did not obey the traffic light regulations.
The only lights functioning on the Atta-Mills high street is at the Black Star Square roundabout – the Independence Arc, and the lights atthe buildings of the institutions earlier stated.
It is very sad to note how the Prof Atta-Mills High street, which is a tourist attraction, and which sits in the heart of the capital, is gradually growing into one of the most dangerous areas to walk or travel on at night.
Government must work hard to resolve this looming danger before people are robbed of their valuables and lives are lost.
I think government can use the three per cent levy charged all consumers of electricity for street lighting (which generated GH¢273.9million of revenue in 2018 and 2019) to ensure that the entire country is properly lit up at night.
Joseph Adamafio,
Student Ghana Institute of Journalism
Editorial
Merits and demerits of scraping betting tax
Dear Editor,
Over the past years, a lot of concerns have been raised about the rise of sports betting companies in the country, their operations, and how it impacted negatively on the youth of the country.
I have also witnessed how some of the youth go to the extent of borrowing money from friends or use companies’ money to stake bets, which they were not guaranteed of winning.
Due to this, I was happy when the previous government introduced the betting tax, as I felt it would deter the youth from engaging in it.
However, some Ghanaians hold the view that the betting tax would help create employment.
It wasn’t surprising to see the excitement that greeted the announcement of the scrapping of the tax by the Finance Minister.
My worry now is how, as a country, the youth can be discouraged from engaging in betting.
I believe that as the betting tax has been scrapped, it is about time that the government finds ways of addressing the issue of betting among the youth as it is becoming more serious than before.
I believe that there should be a multi-stakeholder engagement between the various stakeholders to proffer solutions to address them.
Editorial
Rail crossing point at circle- Kaneshie road needs attention
Dear Editor,
I read with happiness a letter published in the previous edition about the poor state of the rail crossing stretch of the Circle-Kaneshie road.
I totally agree with the concerns raised by the writer and I wish to add my voice to the call on the authorities to quickly work on that stretch of the road.
What the writer left out was the occasional happenings when vehicles break down on the rail line. I have witnessed that before.
It is not a comfortable thing driving on it at all. It is a huge dent on the beauty the interchange was expected to bring to the area.
The traffic it creates is a major inconvenience to people who are rushing to work.
I wish to appeal to the authorities to quickly do something about that portion of the road to make it convenient for drivers. Thank you for the space.
Maxwell Amamoo,
Odorkor
