The Member of Parliament (MP) for Okaikoi Central, Hon. Patrick Boamah, has written to the Minister for Roads, requesting for additional footbridges to be constructed on the N1 highway to curb the rampant spate of accidents on George Walker Bush road.

More than 5,640 accidents, 706 knockdowns and 264 deaths involving both pedestrians and drivers plying the 14km have been recorded by the Police.

Interacting with some journalists of the Parliamentary Press Corps on Thursday, July 20, 2017, Hon. Boamah who is also a deputy Minister for Water Resources and Sanitation expressed the belief that the construction of some additional footbridges and underpass will help reduce the alarming rate of accidents on the N1 highway.

“If you look at the statistics, it is very worrying the number of people who have lost their lives on that road. I’ve had several media engagements on this issue and posed so many questions to various ministers of state on the matter but to no avail. The NPP has come to rule this nation and I’m a member of the NPP and I don’t want anyone to feel that I was doing these things because the NDC was in power, no. I will continue to advocate for footbridges, flyovers, underpasses and good measures to prevent the happenings on the N1,” he noted.

In the said petition to the Minister for Roads dated July 17, 2017, Mr. Boamah said “These past years in office, I have sent appeals to government for the construction of footbridges that are disability friendly on the highway in 2014. Government assured that there were plans in place to construct additional footbridges on the accident prone highway to ensure the safety of pedestrians. However, these calls and assurances never materialized as the highway continues to record very alarming numbers of casualties and accidents. I would therefore be appreciative if your office could consider the construction of additional disability friendly footbridges situated at the most busiest parts of the highways to curb the frequency of accidents on the road.”