Tema, June 7, GNA -The Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) has announced that an axle load weighing station would be constructed on the Tema-Accra beach road to check overloading haulage trucks plying the road.
Mr. Joseph Atsu Amedzake, Director of Road Safety and Environment at the Ghana Highway Authority, disclosed this during a stakeholder engagement at Tema West.
He said the government had awarded a contract for the expansion of the beach road from a single carriageway to a dual carriageway, and it was important such an investment was preserved by controlling axle load application on the road, for it to last for its designed period.
“If you invest in a road and it fails prematurely, it means that you have put that investment down the drain so we must make sure that the loads that are applied on the road by the vehicles are within the specified limit and provide the needed access for the traveling public,” he stated.
He said the project which was expected to commence in August this year would be completed in one year, adding that the stakeholder engagement was the first step in the management of the project to get the stakeholders to buy into the project for maximum support.
He said currently on the motorway they noticed that overloaded trucks parked around the Ashaiman overhead and speed off in the night to avoid being weighed at the axle load station.
Mr. Amedzake said to cure that, GHA was collaborating with the Ghana Police Service to stop them from parking at the said place.
On punitive measures to prevent overloading of trucks, he said the current fine issued to drivers for overloading was punitive enough, stating however that the charge for parking at the axle load while off shedding the excess load needed to be relooked at as it was too small.
Mr. Fred Asiedu-Dartey, Head of Freight and Logistics, Ghana Shippers Authority, said the project was a laudable idea reiterating the need to put in place a strong action to preserve the investments made in expanding the beach road.
He said in as much as trade was important, there was the need to balance the interest and ensure that the legal framework L.I. 2180 that had been put in place to protect the road was fully complied with by all stakeholders.
He said, “it’s a brilliant idea to put that infrastructure in place, but beyond the installation, the focus is to improve the monitoring and enforcement of these facilities.
“Many a time you will find out that the operators at these facilities don’t enforce the law as it is supposed to be, as we speak the law indicates that if any truck was to come to the station and its overloaded, the owner should pay a fine, and then the excess luggage is shed off.”
GNA