There'll Be No Potholes On Roads In 2020 – Minister Assures

Ghanaians will next year have some respite by travelling on potholes free roads, a Deputy Finance Minister, Charles Adu-Boahene has promised.

Mr. Adu-Boahene accused the previous government of securitizing road funds, a situation that crippled them in fixing roads in the country.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, he said despite the challenges, government is committed to ridding the country’s road network of potholes and maintain them from next year and beyond.

“I believe no potholes is one of the many things. I think we need the maintenance. We are suffering because in 2016/2016 the previous government securitize the road funds. The road monies had been encumbered so we had no money to service and maintain the roads. So in the mid-year budget, we added a few pesewas to the road fund levy to give us some space to maintain the roads. We want to eliminate all the potholes on our roads and make sure that the roads are navigable and the shock absorbers don’t suffer. This is a promise from me.”

Prior to the presentation of the Budget, many have called on the government to allocate more funds towards fixing the deteriorating state of the country’s road.

The government however in its quest to address the poor road networks in major parts of the country has declared 2020, as the “year for roads”.

It also says as part of its new initiative to complement the traditional execution of road projects, it has launched the Accelerated Community Road Improvement Initiative.

2020, year of roads

Delivering the 2020 Budget he Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta said the government will largely focus and prioritize road projects to improve infrastructure in that sector and bring an end to the cries of Ghanaians for better roads.

“Mr. Speaker, Ghanaians want action on our roads, not words or plans or Green Book claims about what has been done. We intend to swing into action and let our work do the talking for us. Mr. Speaker with this large number of roads to be constructed, the year 2020 can aptly be described as “The Year of Roads” along with a focus on all our flagship programmes, he added.

The deplorable state of the road in parts of the country has become a challenge to many.

Recently, most residents who have been outraged by poor roads have resorted to series of protests to pile pressure on authorities to get their roads fixed.

They have been burning tyres and wielding placards with varied inscriptions to have their roads which are full of potholes and bumps fixed

Most farmers and market women have to cart their goods to consumers.

---citinewsroom