Govt will work to fix country’s poor roads - Buaben Asamoah
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has appealed to Ghanaians to exercise patience with the government as it works to address the poor state of roads in the country.
It said it appreciated the frustration of Ghanaians as a result of the deplorable road networks and gave an assurance that the government was determined to address the challenge.
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Addressing journalists in Accra yesterday, the Communications Director of the NPP, Mr Yaw Buaben Asamoah, said most of the challenges in the road sector were created by the NDC and that the NPP government had come to remedy the situation.
He appealed to Ghanaians to appreciate the fact that it would take time for the country to bridge its road infrastructure deficit.
“We must first and foremost know that building quality roads require patience and that is what we humbly ask Ghanaians to understand,” he said.
The press conference was held to highlight the achievements and progress the government had made with the economy and especially in the banking, political, governance, education and environment sectors since coming into office in 2017.
He said there had been massive improvement in all sectors of the Ghanaian economy since the NPP took over power from the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Road issue
Mr Asamoah said many of the roads the NDC claimed to have constructed during their tenure were nowhere to be seen, adding that since the NPP came into office, lots of funds had been released to settle the mounting debt the NDC left behind.
Mr Asamoah explained that more than GH¢4 billion had gone to settle road arrears accumulated since 2017 and almost all those roads were supposedly done under the NDC.
For the road network to be improved, he said about $1 billion was required annually for several years to upgrade the country’s road infrastructure to an appreciable level, adding that “that is why we will appeal for patience since measures are being put in place by the government.”
Economy
“Since the NPP came to power,” he said, “it had implemented solid economic programmes designed to get Ghana out of the mess the NDC created for the people”.
He mentioned the banking crises as one major issue the NPP government had to deal with and that through prudent measures the sector was taking shape.
He said with the government working steadily, Ghana’s economy had witnessed a massive turn around and mentioned the successes chalked up with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“The NPP has passed a Fiscal Responsibility Act that will guide us in our spending so that Ghana does not overspend in election years like the NDC did,” he added.
Corruption
Mr Asamoah said following various measures the government had implemented, its determination to tackle corruption could not be doubted.
He mentioned the establishment of the Special Prosecutor’s Office as one major step that government had taken to address corruption.