GPRTU launches advocacy project on roads in Upper West

WA, Sept. 22, GNA - The Upper West Regional branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) on Thursday launched an advocacy project to press the government to give priority attention to the completion of the Bole-Bamboi stretch of the Wa-Bamboi road and tar the other major roads linking Wa to other regional capitals. The project titled, "Delay completion of the Bole- Bamboi Road, the effects on business," is being sponsored by the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) fund.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Joseph Awantungo, a Consultant to the Project, said the region since its creation in 1983, had not seen any major road construction works and that had continued to endanger the economic lives of the people.

"Though the region is one of the poorest in the country, the road system is a major contributory factor to the economic crises facing the people", he stated.

He noted that the construction of these arterial roads was often used as campaign tools by political parties to win votes and abandoned after victory, stressing that the advocacy action was, however, not born out of any political motive.

"After 50 years of independence, the region cannot boast of any good major link road. We are therefore fighting our cause as Ghanaians and not as members of any political party since the roads do not belong to any political party".

The advocacy programme would do a research on the roads and use their deplorable state as evidence to create a platform for the government and the Regional Secretariat of the GPRTU to dialogue on how work on the Bole-Bamboi stretch and the other link roads from Wa could be completed or constructed.

The Union would not rest until all the major roads in the region saw a remarkable improvement by way of tarring, Mr Awantungo said. In another development, the Regional branch of the GPRTU has appealed to all transport owners whose vehicles operated in the region, to ensure that they employ only drivers screened by the regional secretariat.

According to Mr Nuhu Mahama, the Regional Industrial Relations Officer, the directive was aimed at minimizing the high incidence of accidents in the area in recent times, which have been attributed to human error. Any driver who did not pass through such screening would not be accepted on roads in the region and sanctions would also be applied to owners of such vehicles, he warned. 22 Sept. 06