The Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwesi Amoako Attah, has warned that all structures impeding road construction in the country will be demolished.
He said some individuals and organisations had illegally acquired lands in watercourses and had in some instances diverted the course of the water onto buffer lands set aside for roads construction.
The minister explained that such practices delayed development and compounded the existing challenges and costs involved in road construction.
"Without fear or favour, all structures in watercourses would be demolished and if the various Assemblies fail to do that, the engineers would be empowered to do so," he said.
Working tour
Mr Amoako Attah gave the warning when he toured some communities in the Bortianor-Ngleshi Amanfro constituency last Wednesday to get firsthand information on the state of the roads in the area and what was contributing to engineering challenges communicated to him after initial assessment by officials from the ministry.
"I have received calls from the Member of Parliament and I have been told of the situation here but I must say that what I was told was an understatement because the roads are very bad and people have built indiscriminately in water ways which is making the situation worse," he said.
At a suburb of Bortianor called 'Baba Dogo', the minister identified one of the structures sitting on a water courses and called on the assembly to demolish it.
"So many people are doing this and it looks like we are afraid of them but even if it is a mosque or a church, it must go down," he said.
New contracts
The minister gave the assurance that a number of contracts would be awarded for the roads linking communities in the area to be rehabilitated.
For example, he said, the 'Ajasco Junction' road that linked Old Bortianor would be treated as a priority project and would be reconstructed due to its deplorable nature and significance to economic activities.
"I want to assure the people of this constituency that the government will shift its attention here and ensure that the roads are done. They have to be calm because all roads cannot be done at the same time," the minister said.
The already deplorable roads have further deteriorated as a result of the heavy rains in recent days
Mr Amoako Attah stressed that the government would ride on the back of the reclassification exercise being carried out by the ministry to ensure that companies were awarded contracts they have the capacity to execute.
"We must weed off all contractors without capacity, that is what the reclassification is all about because we don't want anyone who will waste our time," he said.
Future projects
The minister said he would embark on similar working tours in other constituencies in the Greater Accra Region to identity and execute emergency projects that would bring immediate relief to residents.
The Municipal Chief Executive of Ga South, Joseph Nyarni, who accompanied the minister on the tour, expressed appreciation for the intention to fix the deplorable roads in the area.
"I must say I am very grateful because ours is a new Municipality which was only created in 2018 so we don't have the funding to take on high capital projects like roads so we need the help of the central government and that is why the presence of the minister here is welcomed and appreciated, " he said.
Mr Nyarni said the assembly would ensure that all structures that would impede the construction of the roads were brought down to make way for development.
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