Gov't must get tough with road contractors -Togbe Afede

Togbe Afede XIV, President of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs on Friday urged government to get tough with road contractors to curtail shoddy works in that sector.

He said roads must be constructed to last for at least 15 to 20 years, but that has not been the case in Ghana for some time now, referring to the prolonged existence of the Tema Motorway.

Togbe Afede was addressing the first general meeting of the House in 2015.

He said newly constructed highways in the country hardly last one year, with huge cost to the national purse.

Togbe Afede said if the quality of work on the Asikuma-Peki stretch of the “Eastern Corridor” Highway should be replicated on other stretches of the Corridor, then the Eastern Corridor road promises to be of high quality.

He, however, asked Chiefs in the region to educate their subjects to refrain from digging trenches and constructing ramps across the highways because they affect the lifespan of the roads.

Togbe Afede suggested Ghana should adopt the used lorry tires technology adopted in the Cote d'Ivoire to slow down vehicles in approaching communities.

Meanwhile, Togbe Afede said at no time did chiefs in the Volta region oppose the request by their colleagues in the Western region for 10 per cent of the crude oil revenue to be allocated to that region.

He said a news story on CitiFMonline attributed to Nana Kwesi Agyeman, Vice-President of the Western Regional House of Chiefs at a public interest and accountability Forum cited that allegation and threatened that the Western region would also oppose any such request by the Volta region should crude oil be found there.

He said opposition to that request arose in Parliament and other forums for varied reasons, but not from the Volta region.

Togbe Afede said the Volta region would not oppose the interest of any region.