National Chairman of the Association of Ghana Road Contractors, John Afful Junior, has defended government’s decision to re-asphalt some roads in the capital which may seemingly look ‘good’.
Earlier this week, Ing. Abdullai Mahama expressed disappointment in the government for re-asphalting of fairly ‘good’ roads in the capital as he described the activity as a misplaced priority.
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He argued on the Happy Morning Show that there are more roads in the country that are in a deplorable state than the roads that are being asphalted at the moment.
However, John Afful, in a separate interview on the Happy Morning Show with Samuel Eshun explained: “Before we start any activity on our roads, we embark on what is called Traffic count. This refers to assessing the number of cars that use the road to determine whether asphalting the road is the right way to go. So, you realize that roads with traffic loads often get in bad shape very quickly. So it is in the right step that roads in the capital are being re-asphalted”.
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Addressing the issue of bad roads in the rural areas, he expressed that while that is a genuine cause of concern, the whole issue borders on lack of funds and debt on the part of governments; both past and present.
“Asphalting roads in the rural areas has a lot to do with cost. The truth of the matter is that roads are very expensive. But for all government past and present, I think their priority is not roads. If their priority were the roads, then all of our roads will be in good shape. As we speak, government has awarded a lot of contracts for the road sector but because of debts and the lack of funds, the construction of roads is at a standstill”.
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The Roads and Highways Minister, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, announced earlier this year that the Government of Ghana has set aside an amount of GH¢1.9 billion to allow road contractors undertake asphalt overlays.
Addressing journalists during the Minister’s press briefing session, the Minister stated that works will commence from this year to 2024 and will cover 1,500 kilometres of asphalt overlays in major towns and cities.