Let’s commit to development of infrastructural facilities
A solid infrastructural base provides the foundation for the speedy development of any society.
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The economy is always ready for takeoff with efficient and good roads, rail and air networks, adequate water and electricity, as well as housing facilities for all strata of society.
Good roads, for instance, and the free movement of goods and services facilitate economic exchanges within and outside the country.
In many of the so-called advanced societies, governments do not limit themselves to the provision of good infrastructure internally but also extend those facilities across their borders.
We all acknowledge the fact that there is no way any society will make a headway without fixing the network of roads, rail and other services.
The Daily Graphic recognises efforts by successive governments, including the colonial regime, to provide a solid infrastructural base for the country.
It must be stated, however, that the colonial regime centred development in the south, thereby depriving the north of any meaningful progress.
The First Republican government of Dr Kwame Nkrumah embarked on a massive reconstruction exercise to provide health, educational, road and rail facilities across the country.
He was so determined to transform the country that his opponents accused him of embarking on prestigious projects.
Those projects, such as the Accra-Tema Motorway, today hold the key to the physical development of the country.
The Busia regime is also credited with rural development, while the Acheampong regime built estate houses.
The Rawlings administration built many kilometres of asphalt roads and extended electricity to many parts of the country, while the Kufuor regime opened up the country further by reconstructing many of the roads from Accra to the hinterlands.
The Mills administration did not relent in continuing with the efforts to update the country’s infrastructure and currently the Mahama administration is doing its best to improve traffic management in Accra and elsewhere.
The Kumasi Airport has been upgraded to take bigger aircraft and facilitate the landing of planes in the night, while the Tamale Airport is being improved to become an international airport.
Certainly, one project that will transform the face of Accra is the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange. It will not only ease the traffic gridlock at the centre of the city but also enhance the aesthetics of the area.
Nonetheless, the Daily Graphic urges the government to look for resources to complete the “Gang of Four” projects, including the Nsawam-Suhum-Apedwa road, to make travel from Accra to Kumasi more pleasurable.
We appeal to the government to provide the counterpart funding for the completion of the footbridges on the Atomic Junction-Pantang road and fix the potholes on the Accra-Tema Motorway.
The rocks still hang on the hills along the Ayi Mensah-Aburi road, posing a danger to users of that road.
The Daily Graphic urges the government to update the road network across the country to facilitate the easy movement of people and also revamp the rail network.
We daresay that any further deterioration in the infrastructural base of the country can only retard the development process.
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