Road Fund to support trunk road maintenance

 

Wa (Upper West) 15 July ?99

The government has approved 22.5 billion cedis from the road fund for the maintenance of trunk roads in the Upper West region this year.

About 92 kilometres of roads will be re-gravelled, 42 kilometres upgraded and eight kilometres tarred, Mr. J.K. Danso, the Regional Director of Ghana Highway Authority has said.

He told members of the Road Fund Board on a three-day tour of the region that about 600 kilometres of gravelled road have been awarded on contract for upgrading at an estimated 504 million cedis.

Mr. Bernard Badu, the Regional Engineer, said 76 kilometres of roads have been approved for periodic maintenance during the year, 29.5 kilometres for rehabilitation under the GHA's 'spot improvement programme and 72.2 kilometres would be constructed.

Led by Mr. Steve Akorli, Deputy Minister of Roads and Transport, the 11 member board assessed the conditions of roads and inspected both completed and on-going projects in the Wa, Nadowli, Jirapa and Sissala districts financed through the road fund.

Mr. Bede Ziedeng, Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, described the Road Fund as laudable, saying it has within a short time sustained the construction and rehabilitation of link roads to "areas crying for attention for years".

He appealed to the board to extend its funding to cover the Bole-Bamboi portion of the Wa-Bamboi road, which he said, "is very dear to the people of the region but is now in its worst state".

Mr. Akorli admitted the poor condition of the road, describing it as a national priority. "Plans are far advanced to get work on the road started between now and early next year", Mr. Akorli added.

He said due to competing demands on money from the road fund, it could not be used on the Bole-Bamboi road which "requires a large infusion of funding from both local and foreign sources.

"A small portion of that road can eat up all the road fund in one year", he added.

The road fund board, inaugurated in January 1997, generates its fund from fuel levies, vehicle licensing, road user fees, road tolls and international transit fees.