‘Ghanaians must take interest in road construction to ensure quality’
By Gifty Amofa, GNA
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged Ghanaians to take interest in road construction works to ensure quality and value for money.
“Let us all take an interest and ensure that we get value for money. Never again should it be that a political party or government be allowed to claim to have built a road, a school, or a hospital when they have not done so.”
He said the most frequent and most passionate complaints Members of Parliament got from their constituents were about roads.
President Akufo-Addo said this when he presented the 2020 State of the Nation Address to Parliament on Thursday.
He said no longer should it be permissible that project supervisors and consultants signed off on buildings and roads for contractors to be paid for shoddy work or work not done.
“We live in these communities where these fake projects are said to have been undertaken, and we should each make it our business to ensure that the work is what it claims to be, and contractors get paid for work they have, indeed, done.”
President Akufo-Addo said the Ministry of Roads and Highways had published the list of critical roads that the Government was undertaking.
He said 2020 is the year of roads with some to be upgraded such as the Atebubu/Kwame Danso/Kwadwokrom road, the Hohoe-Jasikan-Dodo Pepeso stretch, Benchema/Nkwanta/Adjayfua, Bolgatanga/Bawku, Kumasi and Greater Accra Inner City roads.
He announced that this was the first time that five flyovers and interchanges were being constructed at the same time in the country’s history.
The President said the backlog of debts owed contractors was being cleared and many of them would be able to go back to the jobs to finish them.
“A list of some critical roads has been drawn up and work has started on them…”
