Govt record in road infrastructure devt unparalleled – Asenso-Boakye

• Mr Asenso-Boakye

The Minister of Roads and Highways, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has said the record of the Akufo-Addo/ Bawumia administration in road infrastructure development is unparalleled.

He said between 2017 and 2023, the government constructed 12,830 kilometres of roads in the country as compared to the 4,636km achieved by the previous administration.

The minister was responding to former president, John Dramani Mahama’s critique of the 12,830 kilometres of roads constructed under the current government.

Mr Asenso-Boakye spoke at Tafo Station, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, where he announced plans by the government to dualise the Kumasi-Tafo-Mampong road.

Over the last seven years, he said, a lot of investment had gone into road infrastructure, both paved and unpaved to improve the riding quality of our roads.

The minister said the works included asphalt overlay, construction, gravelling, reconstruction, rehabilitation and partial reconstruction while major road projects were at various stages of completion across the country.

He cited the School Junction-Motorway Road, Ofanko-Nsawam Road, the Tamale-Yendi Tatale Road, the Agona Nkwanta-Tarkwa Road, the Kasoa-Winneba Road, and the Adenta-Dodowa Road.

Additionally, the minister said six interchanges and 35 bridges had been completed nationwide with more than 10 interchanges and 50 bridges at various stages of construction nationwide.

Mr Asenso-Boakye indicated that currently, a national road network inventory was ongoing with preliminary figures projecting that the road network size would reach 100,000 km by the end of the exercise.

The minister said at the end of December 2016, before the current government assumed office, the road network in the country was 78,403km, however, it had shot up by 20 per cent to 94, 203 km by the end of 2023.

Mr Asenso-Boakye said the government’s intervention in the road sector had led to an impressive improvement of Ghana’s road network condition to 44 per cent good, 34 per cent fair, and 22 per cent poor as compared to the network condition before Akufo-Addo and Bawumia administration.

He said during the former president’s era, the total road network size was 78,402km of which 39 per cent was in good condition, 32 per cent in fair condition and 29 per cent in poor condition.

He said while this achievement reflected nearly three times the progress made by the previous administration within the same timeframe, there was still more work to be done.

“Our government remains committed to providing more roads to further enhance our nation’s infrastructure to meet the needs of the people,” Mr Asenso-Boakye said.

Touting Ghana’s enviable position within Africa’s Road network, he said, World Bank data stated that the country’s road density— measured as kilometres of road per 100 square kilometres of land—exceeded the regional average.

“Ghana boasts 32.8 kilometres of road per 100 square kilometres, nearly double the African regional average of 17 kilometres. This significant achievement is further complemented by our rural accessibility,” he said.

Mr Asenso-Boakye indicated that in Ghana, 63 per cent of the population lives within two kilometres of all-weather roads, compared to only 47 per cent across the Africa region.

FROM TIMES REPORTER, KUMASI