Members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament have called for timely releases of funds from the Ministry of Finance to complete critical road projects in the country, particularly the Pokuase-Nsawam stretch and the Anyinam, Osino and Enyiresi by-passes on the Accra-Kumasi Highway.

They also called for the same commitment in repairing potholes, especially along the Accra-Kumasi-Tamale stretch.

The call was made by the Chairperson of PAC, Abena Osei-Asare, and her Vice-Chairperson, Davis Opoku Ansah, as public interest questions when the Ministry of Roads and Highways appeared before the committee last Wednesday.

The PAC is examining the Auditor General’s Report for 2024, which highlighted issues of abandoned road projects.

Questions

Mrs Osei-Asare, who is the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Atiwa East in the Eastern Region, mentioned specifically works on the Anyinam, Osino and Enyiresi by-passes which had come to a standstill, causing the public, particularly residents in those areas, dust pollution and other inconveniences.

For his part, Mr Opoku Ansah, the NPP MP for Mpreaso, also in the Eastern Region, said he used the Nkawkaw-Nsawam-Pokuase stretch almost every week to his constituency, and mentioned the Pokuase-Nsawam road in particular as being in a deplorable state that posed health and other risks to the motoring public.

He called for attention for cocoa roads in his constituency that had been abandoned.

Response

Responding on behalf of the ministry, the Deputy Roads and Highways Minister, Sayibu Alhassan Suhuyini, said the contractor working on the Pokuase-Nsawam stretch was back on site to continue with the project.

He said the ministry was working with the Finance Ministry to secure releases for contractors to complete critical projects, adding that the contractor for the Pokuase-Nsawam road project had now received payment and returned to site.

The deputy minister expressed confidence that significant improvements would be noticed on the Pokuase-Nsawam road before the end of the year.

He apologised to the motoring public for the frustration they were enduring, especially on the Pokuase-Nsawam road, saying “I apologise to all motorists on that stretch”.

“It's one of the hot potatoes that we inherited at the ministry.

By the time we got to the ministry, the contractor, like many other contractors across the country, had already abandoned site because they had not been paid.

We have been working with the Finance Minister to ensure that we get some releases to these contractors so that they can go back to complete some of these very critical projects,” he said.

“Fortunately, the Finance Minister has been cooperative. In the past, even before releases were made, we had meetings with some of these contractors.

Based on assurances, some of them agreed to go back to site, for which we are very grateful,” he stated.