Given its massive contribution to the economic advancement of the country, it is only logical to build and improve on the social infrastructure of the Western Region, therefore, the construction of good roads in the region is apt, President John Dramani Mahama has said.

The Western Region, apart from being a cocoa-growing area, houses Ghana’s oil enclave as well as many mining companies. It also has thick forest reserves which produce timber for both export and domestic usage.

Mr. Mahama, who is in the region campaigning as part of his preparations for this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections, said the region could not be bypassed by anybody due to its contribution to the economic growth of Ghana.

Speaking in a meeting with the paramount chief of Essikado Traditional Area, Nana Kobina Nketia IV, on Thursday August 18, Mr. Mahama said: “Governments have come and gone, presidents have come and gone, the challenges of Ghana cannot be solved by one president. Everybody has played his part and we are continuing from where they left off.”

“[Former] President Rawlings did his best, Kufuor also did his best, and also President Atta Mills. When I also came, I have continued from where they left off.

“Western Region is one of the most important regions in this country because of its enormous contribution to the advancement of Ghana and so it made logical sense that social infrastructure in the region needed to be built in order for the region to continue with the contributions to the development of the country,” the president added.

Although the government has constructed and reconstructed some roads in the region, Mr. Mahama acknowledged the deplorable nature of some of the roads that were yet to be reconstructed in the region but observed that road constructions were capital-intensive, which government’s budget alone could not address, hence the introduction of the cocoa road projects, while government sources for funds from elsewhere to address other road challenges.