Minister supports road reservation management policy

The Minister of Roads and Highways, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has pledged his support to the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications (GCT) to protect telecommunications and other utility infrastructure from destruction during excavation and road construction.

He said it was important to use legal means and regulation to get the right thing done to protect both investment and infrastructure of such critical social services to the public and businesses.

Mr Asenso-Boakye gave the assurance when he received a delegation from the GCT at his office. 

Meeting

The GCT delegation, led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, paid the courtesy call to discuss issues pertaining to their respective industries.

It is part of efforts to solicit his support to deal with the rampant destruction of fibre cables by road contractors during their construction works, a situation that was impacting the services of the telcos.

Regulation

Mr Asenso-Boakye said the ministry would fully approve of legal backing for the Road Reservation Management Policy.

That, he noted, would regulate infrastructure coordination during construction activities and hold contractors accountable for damages caused to such facilities.

"We should find a way of managing these contractors to make sure that they go according to our framework. It is important.
"If we have the regulations, it will clearly spell out some powers to be able to enforce the manual," he emphasised.

Safeguarding infrastructure

Dr Ashigbey explained that their initiative was to help safeguard the infrastructure of telcos in the public interest, noting that such disruptive activities often peaked ahead of general elections because of increased construction and maintenance activities.

He stated that it was important to get the minister’s backing towards synchronising all construction activities for better management and instituting "punitive measures".

That, he said, would help prevent damages to such facilities and, particularly, ensure their security during the electioneering period.

"We have come to ask the minister to add his voice to what the agencies have been doing in trying to get the contractors to stop the damage they do to telecommunication infrastructure and to also put measures in place that will make it punitive for any contractor who damages infrastructure.

"We also seek for ways to work together with the ministry and the various agencies to ensure that there's better coordination amongst us to minimise damage to roads and destruction of telecommunication infrastructure that will come from the works of their contractors," Dr Ashigbey stated.

The GCT CEO said his agency could not emphasise enough the need for construction companies to be more cautious and provide some protection for the telecommunication infrastructure when they were undertaking their works.

“Fibre cuts lead to bad services and it is very expensive to fix. They will have to find a way to collaborate with us on this to make things bearable for both service providers and consumers,” he stressed.

Financial cost

In 2023, there were 6,232 fibre cuts across the country and it cost the telcos GH¢84.1million to get them fixed.

The average cost of repair for a fibre cable cut, according to the GCT, is GH¢382,000.