Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo, has lamented over corrupt practices within the road sector. The Minister was emphatic that much attention must be placed on the sector with value for money being the core factor in the road sector.

The Minister, who was speaking at an event to officially commence the upgrade of the Accra-Tema Motorway on Monday, said the cost of road construction in Ghana must conform to international standards.

“If you go to the score card of the Ghana Institution of Engineers, they describe the sources of our poor performance in the road sector.

They talk about lack of adequate funds, technical know-how, but they also talk about corruption. It’s something we should also pay attention to. We must have value for money in the road sector.”

He added, “the cost of construction is basically international depending on the material you use and therefore we cannot have a situation where the cost of construction in Ghana is on a different planet.” “The cost of construction of roads should conform to international standards.

We have a situation where the cost per kilometre of our road network is higher than international standards even when you work out the material aspect. This calls for a very close look at the matter.

It cannot be and it should not be and therefore I’m appealing to our financial partners who will join us in the PPP that we are interested in having value for money,” he stated.