Govt fixing Madina roads for political gains – Assemblyman

Assemblyman for Madina West electoral area, Ibrahim Abdul Razak, has opined that the ongoing Madina road construction is a form of political advantage to the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Abubakar Boniface.

He said the MP is capitalizing on the road construction projects to attain more votes in the upcoming 2020 elections.

There has recently been a sudden continuation of road projects that had been abandoned for a very long time. One of such projects being the tarring of the Madina Washington, UN, Chicago and Libya Quarters.

While some residents say the project comes as a relief to them, the Assemblyman for the areas thinks it is merely for political capital.

“Honestly, political gains is also one factor, we cannot raise the factor that the current MP would want to capitalize on that to score a political point, I am a politician as well so I know when elections is drawing nearer there are certain projects that they would want to do,” he told 3news.com.

The deplorable roads over the years have been a destruction to residents and drivers in the area. The roads are dusty and have potholes sometimes causing road accidents and the breakdown of cars. When it rains the roads get flooded entering houses and shops.

The MP in February 2018 told the constituents the Akufo-Addo government would transform the Zongo communities to be places of hope and prosperity.

According to him, infrastructure and sanitation enhancement, social and economic development, crime and security control, heritage and cultural promotion were the focus areas of the government. He said this during an assessment tour of some bad roads for construction in the La-Nkwantang Municipal Assembly, where Roads and Highways Minister, Kwasi Amoako-Atta, promised the roads would be fixed.

But the Assemblyman insists the ongoing projects are just a continuation of what the NDC government left off. ‘’What I know about the road issue is that somewhere 2016 when the the NDC lost the elections, there were these asphalting of the roads but it was done around North Legon and some sections of the Zongo main roads ,so I believe the current government could have dealt with those things but then it was not.

“But you see Ghanaians have come to a certain stage that they are discerning so when you do that continuously honestly it’s going to affect your political fortunes ,it’s rather you do it earlier or diverse your time into areas where you can help the communities as well. It is better that way than waiting up to this point.

‘’There is a political aspect in this. The opposition leader of the Madina constituency, Alhaji Sorogho was doing it, just after the elections it stopped. It was a contract at that time for the asphalting of the roads. But after the election is done, the politicians delayed it after sometime.”

He added, ‘’Not only the drivers are complaining about the roads but the residents who live nearby the roads complain of how the dust is a threat to their health.”