Roads Minister gives account of ministry’s performance
The Ghana Road Fund (GRF) accrued GH¢261.22 million revenue from January to September this year to finance routine and periodic maintenance and rehabilitation of roads, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, has said.
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The amount, which represents 80.07 per cent of the 2015 revenue target of GH¢312 million, is an improvement in the revenue collected from 2010 to 2014.
Alhaji Fuseini, who made this known at the meet-the-press series in Accra yesterday, said revenue into the GRF had increased from GH¢191 million in 2010 to GH¢209.13 million in 2011, GH¢241.37 million in 2012, GH¢271.03 million in 2013 and GH¢311.02 million in 2014.
He said however, that there was still the need for the fund to be increased to adequately cover the maintenance of the road network.
He said the fund carried an indebtedness of GH¢251 million into 2015, being mainly outstanding payments for works executed by road contractors
Key road corridors
Alhaji Fuseini said the ministry continued to improve major road corridors throughout the country to promote trade and economic activities and mentioned the Dodi Papase-Nkwanta, the Agona Junction, Giffard and Burma Camp roads as some of the projects on which significant progress had been made.
He said currently the ministry was carrying out works on a number of roads in all the regions and assured the people that some of the projects would definitely be completed by December 2015 and the rest hopefully in 2016.
Development activities
Alhaji Fuseini said the ministry continued to improve major road corridors across the country to promote trade and economic activities and mentioned that the government, through the Japanese counter-value fund, had begun the rehabilitation of roads in selected district capitals and some major towns.
He said 10 projects in five district capitals and five major towns in six regions had been awarded.
The minister said road infrastructure was an essential catalyst for the country’s socio-economic growth and development but the levels of investment required were far greater than the traditional sources of funding.
“The government has, therefore, determined that partnership with the private sector for roads infrastructure development is an alternative means to complement its efforts in the speedy delivery of road infrastructure for national development,” he said.