One of the major problems confronting the Akufo-Addo government today, and as a matter of fact, any government that will come to power in future, is the roads sector. The Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Atta, told journalists in April, this year, that the total roads network in Ghana, as at the end of 2021, was 94,203km.
These comprise of 14,948km of trunk roads; 50,777km of feeder roads and 28,480km of urban roads. Out of this number, the Minister said, the current government had constructed 10,875 kilometres since it assumed office in 2017.
Though constructing 10,875 kilometres of roads in five years is no mean achievement, it is still a drop in the ocean. Thousands of kilometres of roads have still not been constructed, and the citizenry seem not to be happy with the situation. But, can we blame the government for this shortfall? The answer, in our opinion, is both yes and no. Yes, because it is the responsibility of the government of the day to ensure that these roads are constructed, and no, because the resources of the country can simply not allow the omnibus construction of all these roads.
Road construction is capital intensive, and looking at the size of our national economy, no government can simply get up and construct all the roads in the country. That is the reason why the roads we are able to raise funds to construct must be taken good care of. Unfortunately, this is not the situation. Apart from some of our urban dwellers connecting their sewerage systems to asphalted roads without caring a hoot about the danger it portends, construction firms are also destroying some of the existing roads with careless abandon.
About two or so years ago, the Ministry of Roads and Highways, through the Ghana Highways Authority, claimed to have met construction firms in the country and warned them to stop depositing concrete materials on urban roads. This followed protests by road users that trucks carrying concrete to construction sites deposit some of the materials on the roads, thus make it very difficult for vehicles to ply them.
In Accra, this reckless conduct was common on the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange to the Madina-Adenta road. Though the practice stopped for a while, it has now raised its ugly head again, with increasing volumes of these concrete materials being deposited on the road. As we had earlier indicated, road construction is capital intensive, therefore, to allow a small group of people or companies to destroy these paved roads is a serious matter that must not be swept under the carpet.
It appears to us at The Chronicle that if the threat issued by the Ghana Highways Authority is working at all, the punishment meted out to the erring drivers or companies involved in the act is not punitive enough to discourage them from committing the crime. The Chronicle is, therefore, calling on the Ministry of Roads and Highways to come out with stringent measures to address the problem.
Thanks to the National Security, there are surveillance cameras on all the major streets in Accra and our regional capitals. This means finding drivers or companies who are causing this mess will not be a difficult thing to do. Much as these concrete carrying trucks have the rights to use the roads, they cannot use it as an excuse to destroy the entire road.
Already, the education and health sectors of our economy is ‘swallowing’ the chunk of our budget, but if in the midst of these difficulties we still manage to squeeze water out of stone to construct roads, then the latter must be protected to last for a long time.
Apart from the destruction being caused to the roads, it is also easy for vehicles to somersault because the surface of the road is not even. Should we, as a country, wait for blood to be spilled before we wake up from our slumber to rein in these recalcitrant drivers?
The Chronicle is certainly waiting for the action that will be taken after this publication. We shall surely return to this subject if nothing is done to stop the practice.
