The Minister for Roads and Highways, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has ordered an immediate investigation into the rapid deterioration of sections of the newly reconstructed 66km Tarkwa-Agona Nkwanta Road.
During his inspection tour of major road projects in the Western Region on Friday, he observed that sections of the €95million project were deteriorating quickly.
The Project Manager, Mr. Joaquim Ferreira, attributed the early deterioration to consistent overloading by heavy-duty trucks transporting manganese, bauxite and other mining products.
This led to a surprise visit by the Minister and his team to the Apimanim axle load station, where about 5 trucks were arrested for overloading, some by as much as 20 tonnes.
Addressing the media after the surprised visit, Mr Agbodza said “there is no doubt that overloading is damaging our roads and the axle load Programme is quite problematic.”
He said the Ministry had already commissioned a 5-member committee to investigate the activities of the axle load programme in the country to enable the government to improve the programme’s effectiveness and efficiency.
