Mahama criticises DRIP initiative, cites poor transport plan and says 'payloaders' should've been used to transport equipment

Gertrude Ankah Politics Sep - 10 - 2024 , 10:19

The flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has raised concerns about the government’s District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), citing issues with how the initiative has been managed.

Addressing the Bono Regional House of Chiefs on Monday, September 9, as part of his campaign tour, Mr Mahama questioned the effectiveness of the programme and criticised the transportation and management of the equipment meant for road rehabilitation.

“The DRIP initiative was not well thought through, and this is evident in a video I saw on how the equipment was transported to the various localities,” Mr Mahama stated.

He argued that the government should have provided proper "payloaders" to ensure the safe transportation of the machinery, rather than using substandard methods.

"How to even transport the machines to the districts," the former president said was problematic and cited a video he saw where a "roller" was on the road in the video, followed by a "tipper" truck and then a "grader" on their way to a district.

He suggested the government should have rather "mobilise payloaders" to transport the equipment to the districts and said the districts don't have "payloaders" to transport the equipment to where it would be needed for road maintenance.

As part of the initiative, 2,240 units of road equipment including motor graders, backhoes, rollers, wheel loaders, bulldozers, water tankers, concrete mixers, tipper trucks, low beds and other essential machinery were commissioned to be distributed to all MMDAs under the DRIP initiative

The former President also highlighted that some of the machines have been left idle due to the absence of skilled workers needed to operate them.

“Some of the machines have been left unused because there are no skilled workers to operate them,” he added, stressing the importance of proper planning and execution.

DRIP, launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on July 31, aims to empower Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) with resources to maintain and improve roads across the country.

The initiative is part of the government’s broader commitment to decentralisation, giving local authorities the tools to rehabilitate and upgrade their road networks.

While Mr Mahama acknowledged the significance of road infrastructure development, he questioned whether the government had truly thought through the implementation of DRIP.

He called for better resource management and improved training for workers to maximize the potential benefits of the programme.