A massive road rehabilitation programme is set to come on stream in the next few months to put some bad roads in Accra and across the country in good shape, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta, has said.

In an interview in Accra yesterday, the minister said tenders had been opened for such jobs and some bids were being evaluated in connection with the programme, under which the Department of Urban Roads (DUR), the Department of Feeder Roads and the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) would be working to ensure the rehabilitation of poor roads.

He said already work had commenced on patching potholes and carrying out asphaltic dressing of badly damaged roads.

The programme will be financed from the Ghana Road Fund.

 Mr Amoako-Atta said the government had paid GH¢700 million of the arrears it owed contractors and put in place mechanisms to settle an additional GH¢100 million by the end of this month.

“The roads sector is a key infrastructure sector for the government, as 80 per cent of travellers commute by road in the country.

“The policy is to have quality roads and any contractor who does not live up to expectation in the construction of roads will be blacklisted,” he said.

He reiterated his appeal to engineers to live up to their calling, saying that under his watch any engineer who failed to act professionally as a consultant would have himself or herself to blame.

Before even the programme rolls out, some rehabilitation works are taking place on roads in some parts of Accra and elsewhere.

A visit to some communities in Accra revealed that roads in Odorkor Official Town, which were previously bad, had been regravelled, while the Odorkor Water Works road that links the N1 Highway had also been graded and water spread on it to settle the dust.

Some roads at Asylum Down, Kanda, Nima and New Town have been tarred.

Bad roads

Roads in the national capital are generally bad, with some of them riddled with potholes in the middle, on the sides and the edges.

A drive on some of the roads by a Graphic team last Saturday exposed the state of disrepair of many of them and the frustrations that motorists and residents go through.

Areas visited included Agbogbloshie, Kaneshie, Odorkor, Bubuashie, Darkuman, Awoshie, A-Lang, Santa Maria, Suwutuom and Israel.

Due to the poor nature of the roads, motorists could not move fast, as they were forced by the situation to meander their way along the bad roads, a situation which caused traffic congestion.

Patches

Some of the potholes were filled with stones, broken cement blocks, sand and charcoal as a temporary measure by some concerned citizens, otherwise known as ‘One man contractors’, to ease the movement of vehicles.

Some of the roads did not have drains, while those with drains had the drains choked with sand.

At Israel, two boys who gave their names as Abdul Rashid and Alfred Nkansah were filling some of the potholes with sand collected from the drains.

Street lights were also generally absent on the roads.

Dangerous spot

The untarred Pentecost University College road that connects to Achimota, Mile 7 and the Accra-Nsawam road had countless potholes.

Residents along that road described it as a death trap, as armed robbers had taken advantage of its poor nature to rob unsuspecting motorists of their vehicles.

A second-hand goods seller at the Pentecost Junction, Mr Kofi Gyekyi, told the Daily Graphic that only two months ago, armed robbers allegedly killed a taxi driver and bolted with his vehicle.

Effects on vehicles

In separate interviews, drivers indicated that the poor state of roads in Accra caused frequent breakdown of their vehicles.

"The roads disturb us. They weaken the vehicles. As a result, we only have rickety vehicles on the roads," one said.

The poor nature of the roads and drains is also responsible for flooding in some areas in Accra.

Sunyani

Although the principal streets of Sunyani are tarred and smooth, the condition of roads in the various suburbs leaves much to be desired and needs urgent attention, reports Biiya Mukusah Ali from Sunyani.

The deplorable nature of ulterior roads makes movement very difficult for drivers and commuters.

Although rehabilitation works commenced on some of the roads, they have stalled, worsening the situation, especially during the rainy season.

  Nkwabeng North, one of the suburbs of Sunyani, is one of the communities where the roads are very bad.

The Nkwabeng-Odumase road is also one of the worst in the area.

Even though it was awarded on contract by the government, the contract has been terminated because of the delay in execution by the contractor. 

  A 43-year-old taxi driver, Mr Foster Adjei-Mensah, said bad roads had a negative effect on their vehicles and health.

A resident of the area, Madam Eva Kyeremaa, said drivers were reluctant to ply the road, explaining that even when they did, they charged above the approved fares.

Even though work on the Berlin-Top section of the Sunyani Inner Ring Road is on contract, work has stalled since the death of the contractor.

Kuntanase, Ashanti Region

From Kuntanase in the Ashanti Region, Felix A. Baidoo reports that the poor state of roads in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region is negatively affecting the lives of some residents, state institutions and revellers to Lake Bosomtwe.

According to residents, the poor roads in the district had affected the health of the people, increased travelling time and deterred people from visiting the lakeside, which is a source of revenue for the Bosomtwe District Assembly and provides recreation for both local and foreign tourists.

Some of the communities visited were Kuntanase, Pramso and Esreso where the road network was very bad.

Samreboi, Western Region

From Samreboi in the Western Region, Felix Baidoo reports that the poor state of roads in the Amenfi West District in the Western Region has led to the locking up of more than 5,000 bags of cocoa in some communities.

The poor roads have made it extremely difficult for farmers to cart cocoa beans to weighing centres and depots of the various licensed buying companies to sell.

The Manager of the Western South Region of the Quality Control Unit of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Mr Francis Enyan, in an interview, mentioned some of the affected communities as Mumuni, Tolompin, Gravel Yard, Prestea, Nkita, Baseke and Dorcas.