The Akufo-Addo-led government is taking steps to establish a unified roads management body known as the Ghana National Roads Authority, comprising of Ghana Highway Authority, the Departments of Urban Roads, and Feeder Roads.
Minister for Roads and Highways who doubles as Member of Parliament for Atiwa West, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, announced this over the weekend at a stakeholders’ consultative forum in Koforidua, Eastern Regional capital.
He explained that the Authority would be responsible for planning, development, maintenance and management of roads in the country.
According to him, the new body will be in charge of major roads, including highways, while metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs) will manage internal roads in their respective communities adding that it will be responsible for the planning, development, maintenance, and management of the national road network in Ghana.
The Minister further indicated that the ministry and the Attorney General Department have proposed a draft bill for Ghana National Roads Authority which shall be submitted to Cabinet and subsequently to parliament for consideration and approval.
Mr Amoako-Attah added that lack of coordination and separate mandates among existing agencies have led to duplicated efforts, insufficient maintenance, inconsistent standards, and project delays adding that the challenges have had adverse effects on the quality, safety, and sustainability of the road network which impede economic growth and social development in the country.
Mr. Amoako-Attah stated that the recent development in the road sector has underscored the urgent requirement for a unified authority capable of effectively tackling the road network’s challenges.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong said that the proposed establishment of the Ghana Roads Authority which seeks to bring all the road agencies in the ministry under one umbrella for effective collaboration of the activities will help leverage the competencies of the various agencies and create the necessary synergies.
Kwame Acheampong averred that reforms under the Ministry of Roads and Highway will help in the improvement of its operations, adding that stakeholders’ primary expectation of the exercise will prospect the ministry to improve its ways of doing business and reflect on the condition of the roads in various communities.
-BY Daniel Bampoe