Ranking Member on the Transport Committee of Parliament, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has described the Greater Accra Regional Minister’s move to ban the use of tricycles on highways as "unconstitutional".

The Adaklu MP told Prime Morning on Thursday that implementing the minister's directive will create chaos and amount to a breach of existing laws.

The Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, announced the ban as part of the ‘Let’s make Accra work Agenda' by making the roads safer and ensuring law and order in the national capital.

Mr Quartey pointed that the ban will ensure the compliance and enforcement of the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (LI 2180).

According to the Regional Minister, the bye-law will ensure road regulations for motorbike riders are enforced and address the issue of abandoned vehicles on the streets.

Many have expressed concerns over how tricycles move from Accra to Tema to dump refuse at the Kpone landfill site.

But Kwame Agbodza thinks the proposed interventions by the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council, which is supported by the various assemblies, are unlawful and may open the floodgate for other regions to embark on same.

"It will be illegal; it will be an unlawful order which could be flouted without anybody having to do anything. In fact, LI 21 is even a law passed by Parliament [but] we are finding it difficult to implement. Imagine just a word of mouth of a regional minister; how are you going to implement this?"

"I’m only calling on the regional minister and those assemblies that they do not have the power to be able to do what they are doing. Rather, whatever they want to do in terms of proposals still has to go through the Ministry of Local Government," he told Benjamin Akakpo.

The Adaklu lawmaker asserted that the issue of road crashes should not be wholly attributed to the presence of tricycles on roads but blamed on government's failure to invest in the treatment of solid waste.

"We all know what the problem is. The problem is that government has not invested enough to be able to treat our waste because even [with the] 'aboboyaa' issue, only a certain number of 'aboboyaas' carry refuse to Kpone."

"So, let’s have a solution. If it’s about the rubbish collection, then let’s have a way of recycling more rubbish in Accra instead of going all the way to Kpone," he suggested.

Meanwhile, the effective date for the ban on tricycles on highways and major roads in the Greater Accra Region has been moved from November 1, to February 1, 2022.

This is expected to make room for more engagement, education and sensitisation to ensure the successful implementation of the directive.