People of Upper East Region want better roads

Bolgatanga, May 13, GNA - Mrs. Lucy Awuni, Upper East Deputy Regional Minister has made a distress call for the rehabilitation of the Region's deplorable roads.

The deplorable condition of most roads in the region made travelling difficult and that was a source worry to the chiefs and people of the area. The Deputy Regional Minister who made the call at a Road Fund forum held in Bolgatanga noted that: "Portholes are left unattended to for an unacceptable length of time and during the rainy season washouts occur quite frequently rendering some of our roads impassable".

She said the condition had affected Agricultural production as the crating of foodstuffs from food producing areas to the Market centres in the Region and beyond are difficult resulting in massive post harvest losses. According to her, any poverty reduction strategy in the Region would require the availability of good feeder roads to feed highways in the movement of goods and services throughout the Region.

Mrs. Awuni noted that in view of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Region, there was the need for the Ministry of Roads and Highways to expedite action on the resurfacing of streets and roads in the Bolgatanga Municipality to give it a facelift. She said the Regional capital street lighting project was currently ongoing and without good roads, the intended purpose of beautifying the city would be defeated.

The Minister however said whilst Government was making efforts to solicit donor funding for development of the road sector, there was the urgent need to support the Ghana Road Fund by paying tolls to generate enough funding to ensure regular maintenance of the roads. She entreated engineers to monitor the ongoing road projects in the Region to ensure that there were properly executed. Participants at the Road Fund forum expressed similar sentiments on the deplorable nature of the road network in the Region and called for immediate redress.

They stated that Government has been investing so much in the road sector nationwide and wondered why the Upper East Region was not getting its fair share of good roads.

Participants suggested that contracts should be awarded to only qualified persons who have the equipment and expertise to execute projects effectively.

The Vice Chairman of the Association of Road Contractors in Upper East Region, Mr. Dawuda Hakeem, suggested that 25 per cent of insurance premiums collected by Insurance Companies on vehicles should be paid into the Road Fund for the maintenance of roads. 13 May 10