The Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa has announced that contractors working on the Eastern Corridor Road and other roads started by the erstwhile administration have been instructed to go back to site within 14 days or lose their contract agreement.
Dr. Letsa said the roads have become impassable for both vehicles and other road users to ply, adding, the president is aware of the state of the Eastern Corridor Road hence making reference to it during the State of the Nation’s Address.
The Minister disclosed this when a Coalition of Transport Associations, Vehicle Owners and Civil Society Groups from the middle and northern belts of the Volta Region paid a courtesy call on him at the Volta Regional Coordinating Council.
Dr. Letsa said he got information from the Ghana Highway Authority that contractors including those working on cocoa roads have been asked to go back to site, saying, he would do his bit.
“What I have to do as a Regional Minister is to make sure that whatever we owed the contractors they are paid if not all, they receive some part payment so that they can also mobilize and go back to site as soon as possible”.
A petition signed by the Chairman of the Association, Mathew Agble, decried the poor nature of roads as greatly affecting the economic activities of a number of people and called on the President to deliver on his promises to get the road constructed.
“His Excellency we regret to say that the projects you have promised us to complete when you resume office have halted and this has virtually created a lot of inconveniences to all classes of people using that stretch of the road. Currently, most of the cars, busses and the trucks have been thrown out of business due to the poor nature of the road. Armed robbery is on the increase especially in the low coverage areas”.
The Coalition expressed deep concern about the deplorable state of roads in areas including Peki, Kpeve, Hohoe, Jasikan, Kadjebi, Dambai through Nkwanta and Damanko covering about twelve Municipal and District Assemblies of the region, saying, the roads are nothing but a death trap.
The statement continued that though the roads were not in good conditions prior to the coming into power of the current government, they were promised that roads already under construction shall be completed upon resumption of office.
“Yojur Excellency as a matter of urgency if nothing is not done about this Eastern Corridor Road which is the main route for carting timber, food stuffs, cocoa, and livestock among others to the cities, it will increase the already high cost of living in the country and impoverish the citizens of those areas,” it added.
By: Collins Anku/voltaonlinegh.com
