Ghana’s road infrastructure is not in the best of shapes, although successive governments have put in their best to develop our roads.
Portions of the road network linking the capital city to the rest of the country are still under construction. As of now, work is ongoing on the roads that have become known as the “Gang of Four”, about six or more years after construction began.
Although these are very critical road networks, we have not been able to complete them because of resource constraints.
Frankly speaking, we should not give up in the face of the frustrations that motorists and passengers experience travelling on those roads.
It must be explained that the Achimota-Ofankor stretch of the Accra-Nsawam road has been completed, thereby reducing travel time on the road considerably.
Good roads facilitate efficient communication in any society by linking human endeavours in one community to another, thereby promoting national development.
With the increase in the number of district capitals, the task of the government to improve roads in all the communities has become arduous and expensive.
Some of the new districts do not have tarred roads, thus reducing the opportunities to speed up development processes in those areas.
The process of improving the road network has been slow because it is expensive to build roads. The district assemblies are not well endowed to execute road projects, except for spot repairs at certain times.
However, over the past decade, the government has worked hard to improve the road network. Today, there are many dual carriageways in the capital city and elsewhere but because of the road deficit, there is still more work to be done.
Our own people are partly to blame for the poor state of our roads, although we have been inundated with complaints of discrimination in the award of contracts, especially to foreign companies.
The Daily Graphic does not believe that foreigners hold the country dearer to their hearts than Ghanaians, for which reason we should leave the destiny of the country in the hands of donors.
Ghana abounds in human and material resources which, if properly harnessed, can help us fix the development gaps in the country.
The Daily Graphic knows that the country cannot boast a bottomless pit of resources that can be used to develop the country, but that is why we should strive to have value for money.
In spite of the challenges in the road sector, we are encouraged by the decision of the government to rehabilitate and expand the Accra-Tema Motorway into six lanes, with an interchange at the Tema Roundabout, early next year.
The decision is welcome because the deteriorating condition of the motorway, which was constructed by our first President to facilitate the movement of goods and services from the port city to the rest of the country, requires urgent attention now.
Regrettably, the road constructed at a great cost to the taxpayer has been left to deteriorate because of lack of periodic maintenance.
Regular users of the motorway always express disquiet at the neglect of the road by the authorities, especially when potholes on the concrete road are filled with bitumen.
Even the uninitiated can tell that engineering works that are executed on the motorway lack elementary logic, as the rehabilitation exercises do not resolve the bad conditions of the road.
The Daily Graphic encourages the government to look for the resources to reshape the motorway to reduce travel time between Tema and Accra and beyond.
That portion of the road network is very crucial for the development agenda of the country and whatever it takes to update it, including looking for resources from within, must be done within the constraints of the national economy.
