Demonstrations don’t fix roads – Deputy Roads Minister

Deputy Minister for Roads and Highways, Stephen Jalulah, has advised Ghanaians against embarking on demonstration exercises over poor roads.

According to him, the ministry has a programme for road construction and will not abandon that to suit the wishes of a few.

In an exclusive interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, he said, “Demonstrations are allowed or constitutionally guaranteed. The authorities are aware of the problems facing Ghanaians but as Hon, Amoako Attah always says, demonstrations cannot make or fix roads. We follow programmes for the construction of roads.”

Making reference to globalization and its effects, he admits Ghanaians are well informed on road construction projects across the country and always call for roads when they see other regions or communities having their roads being worked on.

“Because of ICT we have a global world and one can pick a smart phone or switch on the television set and see what’s going around worldwide and in the country. So if I pick my phone and see the Yendi road being constructed, then you ask why your roads are not being worked on,” he stated.

He explained these occurrences does not mean a particular region has been neglected. “The national cake is not big enough so we cannot construct roads or fast track the construction of roads in all corners of the country. It is not like the fast internet. Road construction takes time and we don’t have the resources to work on all of them simultaneously.

The deputy minister disclosed government has identified 84 critical roads and those are presently being worked on. “The critical roads are the ones essential to most people. One of the examples is the main trunk road between Accra and Kumasi. The road linking Accra to Afloa is critical as it is an international road. The people living in these areas suffer huge traffic congestions and we are looking at solving those.”

Roads are considered to be one of the critical infrastructure that the growth and development of any country hinges on

More importantly, road infrastructure has become one of the key determinants by which the citizenry measure the performance of a government at anytime as roads bring about massive economic and social benefits.

The government declared the year 2020 as the “Year of Roads”. All hopes and expectation were for the government to embark on an aggressive road development across the country.

‘Year of Roads’ is now in its third year — 2020, 2021 and 2022; and while the initiative is still work in progress, there is room for improvement for the citizenry to feel its impact and see it not only in the prime areas of our towns and cities but also within the communities in which they live.