Dedicated to providing the best of educative and developmental content to the Ghanaian populace, Happy98.9FM has set the tone for thought provoking discussions on media platforms with its first Developmental Dialogues in 2022.
The Development Dialogue themed; ‘Improving Ghana’s road infrastructure through sustained innovative technical and financial engineering’ saw seasoned road experts and economist sharing their professional opinions on how roads in the country can be improved and financed.
Hosted by Don Kwabena Prah, host of the ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ political show, the experts discussed practical means of achieving this objective, but not without pointing out the lapses in the existing systems and processes.
National Vice President of the Progressive Road Contractors Association of Ghana, Hammond Larbi, noted that in as much a more road infrastructure is needed in the country, the government must focus more on maintaining existing road infrastructure. According to him, if the maintenance culture in Ghana is deepened, it will be easier for newly constructed roads to withstand the test of time, eventually protecting the tax payers’ purse.
He also explained that in as much as drivers must be cautioned against reckless driving, road safety is founded on 4 key elements which need to be applied simultaneously to protect Ghanaian lives. According to him, these 4 key elements of road safety are; Engineering, Education, Enforcement and Emergency Services.
Touching on the financing of roads, Chartered Economist, Emmanuel Amoah Darkwah, asserted that, Ghana’s revenue mobilization can barely provide the needed infrastructure for the country. “There’s a link between infrastructure development and economic development. The development of a country relies greatly on its infrastructural development. Because of our tight fiscal space we’re not raising a lot of revenue to cushion our expenditure. Day in day out, demand for roads and infrastructure in general keeps shooting higher. At the same time the money we are raising as a country is not enough to foot the bill of the infrastructure we need as a country,” he stated.
He however suggested government can increase its revenue base when it is able to capture potential tax payers and channel them into tax payers.
National Vice President of the Progressive Road Contractors Association of Ghana, Hammond Larbi, suggesting ways the government can finance road projects advised it to with immediate effect bring back tolling levies on the country’s highways and bridges. Apart from just reintroducing them, he argues they should come with an increment, whilst plugging leakages.
Speaking from a technical point of view, Project Manager for Comptran Engineering & Planning Associates, Ing. Abdulai Mahama, reiterated that the lack of discipline on Ghanaian roads contributes to the high rate of road accidents and mortality.
According to the civil engineer, the behavior of motorists on our roads could sustain or raze off the road after contractors and other institutions in charge have done their job.
He believes measures such as the introduction of speed limiters on roads can see an end to this kind of reckless driving, protecting both road users and the road from wear and tear.
Remarking on the Dialogues, Director of Broadcasting for Global Media Alliance Broadcasting Company (GMABC), Timothy Karikari, lauded the experts for coming up with such brilliant initiatives to improve Ghana’s road infrastructure. Touting them patriots, he expressed his desire for the emergence of more such people in all sectors of the country.