100 Central Region roads abandoned

About 100 road projects in the Central Region have been abandoned by the contractors.

They include about 30 projects under the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), 40 others under the Urban Roads Department and others under the Feeder Roads.

According to the road department officials, some of the road contractors had been off the project sites for more than a year, citing the lack of funds as the reason for the abandonment.

Some other contractors who are on site are undertaking the construction at a snail’s pace.

Others also had problems of encroachment on the project space.

The Central Regional Director of GHA, Mercy Akyaa Payne, in a presentation at the Central Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) meeting last Thursday, said 24 per cent of roads were in good condition, 58 per cent fair and 18 per cent were poor while paved roads constituted 72 per cent of the total trunk road network.

Completed roads

She said routine maintenance on the road network was delayed this year due to unfavourable rainfall patterns and budgetary constraints.

Ms Payne said there were 49 projects undergoing periodic maintenance.

She further stated that the region had eight completed projects and 11 other road projects had contractors working actively on them.

The GHA Central Regional Director said the completed road projects included the Bawjiase-Adeiso, Assin Fosu-Assin Praso, Amanful-Nyarkrom-Odoben-Asikuma, the Twifo Praso bridge, Ateiku-Sarpongso and works on Cape Coast-Twifo Praso road.

The ongoing road works, she added, included the Mankessim-Ayeldu-Abura Dunkwa, Ajumako-Asikuma, Bawjiase-Obrachire, Awisem-Aboabo, Dunkwa Awisem and some roads within the Assin and Winneba enclaves.

She said roads under consideration were the Potsin Junction-Potsin, Swedru-Afransi Ajumako, Winneba Junction-Swedru and Yamonransa- Assin Fosu, while the Kasoa-Winneba section was being considered for dualisation.

Speed tables

On speed tables, Ms Payne indicated that there was a policy on national roads, saying there was no construction of speed tables on national roads.

The GHA Central Regional Director expressed worry about the chaotic situation around the onion market and urged the CRCC to ensure that the market area was included in the design of the Kasoa-Winneba dualisation project.

Urban roads

The Central Regional Director of the Urban Roads Department, Jacob Nelson, for his part, said the region had 68 per cent unpaved road network and 38 paved, saying the department was projecting that the percentage of good roads would be increased from 16.22 to 50 per cent in the next three years.

He said out of the 54 periodic maintenance projects, nine had been completed and five others had contractors working on site, though at a rather slow pace.

Mr Nelson said, for instance, that 18 per cent of the Ayigya Lodge-Veterinary-Kojo Badu Water works road had been done and that other projects also in Winneba were ongoing at a worryingly slow pace.

The Regional Director of the Feeder Roads Department, Abudulai Braimah, also expressed worry about activities of illegal miners who were now mining close to some feeder road projects.

Reports submission

The Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assan, in a speech read on her behalf by the Central Regional Coordinating Director, Micheal Owusu Amoako, urged the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to send reports on activities on time for prompt action.

She said it was disheartening that some MMDAs and departments unduly delayed in meeting report submission deadlines and in some cases did not submit them at all to the RCC for collation and onward submission to the relevant ministries.

That, she stressed, was an unfortunate gap which had caused the failure of some assemblies in the recent District Performance Assessment Tool (DPAT), adding that such trivial lapses could easily be avoided.

Uphold peace

Mrs Assan appealed to all to encourage the actors in the various MMDAs to eschew all negative tendencies that could mar the peace in the various communities.

"Let us see one another as members of a unified family of the region and endeavour to work in harmony," the Regional Minister added.