Our achievement in road sector unparalleled - Asenso-Boakye to former President Mahama
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has said the record of the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) government in road infrastructure development is unparalleled.
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His comment comes after former president John Dramani Mahama questioned the 12,830 km of roads constructed under the current government.
"The point must be made emphatically that between 2017 and the end of 2023, the Akufo-Addo and Bawumia administration constructed an impressive 12,830 kilometres (km) of roads compared to the 4,636km achieved by the previous administration," he said.
Record
Mr Asenso-Boakye, who is also the NPP Member of Parliament for Bantama, was addressing the media at Tafo Station in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region where he announced the government’s intention to dualise Kumasi-Tafo-Mampong road.
The minister said Ghana had an enviable position within Africa’s road network.
He said data from the World Bank suggested that Ghana's road density — measured as kilometres of road per 100 square kilometres of land — exceeded the regional average.
"Ghana boasts 32.8 kilometers of road per 100 square kilometres, nearly double the African regional average of 17 kilometres. This significant achievement is further complemented by our rural accessibility," Mr Asenso-Boakye said.
He indicated that in Ghana, 63 per cent of the population lived within two kilometres of all-weather roads, compared to only 47 per cent across the Africa region.
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Investment
"Over the last seven years, a lot of investments have gone into road infrastructure, both paved and unpaved to improve the riding quality of our roads," he said.
The minister said the works included asphalt overlay, construction, gravelling, reconstruction, rehabilitation and partial reconstruction.
This, according to him, was exclusive of some major road projects which are at various stages of completion across the country.
He cited the School Junction-Motorway road, Ofanko-Nsawam road, the Tamale-Yendi-Tatale road, the Agonankwanta-Tarkwa road, the Kasoa-Winneba road, and the Adenta-Dodowa road as examples of the works of the current government.
Additionally, the minister said six interchanges and 35 bridges had been completed nationwide.
"Currently, more than 10 interchanges and 50 bridges are at various stages of construction nationwide,” he said.
Mr Asenso-Boakye indicated that currently, a national road network inventory was ongoing with preliminary figures projecting that the road network size would reach 100,000 km by the end of the exercise.
The minister said at the end of December 2016, before the current government assumed office, the road network in the country was 78,403km.
"This, however, has shot up by 20 per cent to 94, 203 km by the end of 2023,” he noted.
Mr Asenso-Boakye said the government’s intervention in the road sector over the last seven years had led to an impressive improvement of Ghana’s road network condition to 44 per cent good, 34 per cent fair, and 22 per cent poor as compared to the network condition before the Akufo-Addo and Bawumia administration.
Comparison
The minister further indicated that during the former President's era, the total road network was 78,403km.
"Of these, 39 per cent were in good condition, 32 per cent were in fair condition and 29 per cent were in poor condition,” he said.
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He said while “this achievement reflected nearly three times the progress made by the previous administration within the same timeframe”, there was still more work to be done", adding that “our government remains committed to providing more roads to further enhance our nation’s infrastructure to meet the needs of the people".