Road networks in Ghana not the best – Minister
Alhaji Amidu Sulemani, Minister of Roads, said in Parliament on Monday that the road networks in the country were not the best.
He attributed this to indiscipline on the roads by road users and called for collective efforts of Ghanaians to help maintain the roads.
He said even when new roads were being constructed road users could be found destroying them at the same time.
Alhaji Sulemani made these remarks following a statement made by Mr Frank Anno-Dompreh, Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, on the poor state of roads in the country focusing on the Nsawam-Adoagyiri Constituency.
He said delays in the completion of the Nsawam-Apedwa road was giving rise to accidents, particularly on the Doblo-Lante stretch adding that bad roads consumed massive financial and human resources.
Pot-holes have developed in many areas which contribute enormously to accidents rates and hence require urgent attention, he said.
He said the maintenance of the roads should be a high priority to increase economic, human and social interactions in developing the country.
Mr Anno-Dompreh said apart from the sorrow, grief and pain caused by crashes on poor roads, economic reasons also necessitated the urgent need to fix them.
He said the major mode of transport was road transportation, therefore, if that mode was in a terrible shape, it meant that the country had not done enough to improve the transportation of goods and services.
Mr Anno-Dompreh said other countries in the sub-region have relatively better road networks compared to Ghana.
He said there was the need for a policy framework and effective monitoring and evaluation systems to support expanded efforts to build and maintain the roads, adding that Malawi, South Africa, and Cote D’Ivoire should inspire Ghana to do more.
Mr Anno-Dompreh said the road fund was set up to mend pot-holes across the country adding that many sections of Adoagyiri-Adeiso road had been rendered almost impassable.
He said there was need for firm guidelines for splitting road expenditures between new construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of roads.
He suggested that 55 per cent of the nation’s total expenditure on roads should be for maintenance of existing road network, 15 per cent for rehabilitation and not more than 30 per cent for new road projects.
Also contributing to the statement, Mr Oppong-Kusi David, Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayiribi, called for the need to ensure that budget for roads were properly used.
Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, Speaker, introduced a 10 member delegation from the National Committee of China’s Consultative Conference, led by the Vice Chairman Ma Biao, to Parliament.
The delegation, earlier in the day, paid a call on the Speaker to consolidate cordial relations exiting between Ghana and China.
Source: GNA