Detours to get home

For nearly a week access to the main road – or rather the side area of it – was blocked as deep trenches were being dug, and large water pipes were being laid. A big nuisance, even though we had all seen it coming for several weeks, or even months. But then, how to get home? It did mean taking going the long way round, via a rough unpaved road, full of deep gulleys and in some cases some rather unsettling rocks which had been put in to fill the depressions… Funnily enough in the five years I have lived here, I have never used either of the two alternative routes I had to, so that was interesting, though I managed to lose one of the wheel covers on my car. That did not make me happy.

Initially the first day the junction was blocked the company responsible carefully put up white and red plastic to tell vehicles that the road was closed. That only lasted two days- and it did make me wonder as to who removed them? It was kind of fun going along and having people tell me that the road was closed, and my mouthing that it was OK, or even rolling down the window, and telling them I was going to my house – both in English and my disastrous attempt at Twi!

I guess Engaa Street is a relatively useful road, as it does actually connect with other places, and not peter out into a dead-end, like so many others in Accra. It could definitely do with some grading though. Gutters were dug about four years ago – but they were soon washed away in many places, and where the concrete gutters were done, they have started to erode.

But now it looks as if the big pipes are being connected to the smaller subsidiary ones, so maybe we will have water through our pipes rather than having to rely on tankers! That would be great, cos I am really, really tired of having to buy water every week. Not to speak of the cost, which is considerable. And as P said, tanker water service really is horribly inefficient, and environmentally degrading (given all the diesel consumed!)