Policy Fair 2012 - Road Sector and Family Day Steal the Show

By Mawutodzi Abissath

Do you know that competition engenders excellence? Gradually but subtly, the Dialogue Session module of the Information Ministry-initiated Policy Fair is emerging as a national platform for intellectual and strategic thinking pageant. And the quality of speakers and moderators for this year’s event was beyond compare. The other component of the Fair is Exhibitions by MDAs. Without exaggeration, all the dialogue sessions of the just-ended National Policy Fair –the 3rd in series held at the plush Accra International Conference Centre from 16st to 21st April, 2012 was not only mind-boggling, but titillating, thrilling, exiting, insightful and soul moving! It was fantastic! Most Rev.Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle, Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra was the man of God who beseeched the presence of the Commander-in-Chief of the Universe to take control and direct affairs. And indeed, despite all human errors and challenges, the event came to a successful end with a Muslim prayer by Hon. Baba Jamal Ahmed Mohammed, Deputy Minister for Tourism. If I were granted the privilege to declare a winner of the quoloquim, (dialogue sessions), Hon. Joe Gidisu of the Road sector and Rev. Dr. Samuel Kisseadoo of the Family Day would have shared the first prize for Speakers category, while Hon. Ben Ephson of the Daily Dispatch and Hon. Kwesi Pratt of The Insight would share the Moderators award. The quality was apt! But the object of this piece is to highlight the salient points in the presentation made by the Roads and Highways Minister because time did not allow him to do justice to his topic and more importantly, “he who brings you roads brings you life.” All the 230 Parliamentarians want roads in their constituencies at ago, especially during this election year. But roads budget is always cut. First of all this writer can affirm and confirm that Ghanaian roads engineers at the Highway Authority, Department of Feeder Roads and the Department at Urban Roads do not have the luxury to sit and enjoy the cozy comfort of their fully air-conditioned offices at all. The nature of their work finds them in virgin forests, swampy and mushy rivers, abyss valleys, or struggling to climb Rocky Mountains and hills in efforts to take roads to the last living soul at the end of the rainbow. Speaking from experience, I can vouch for their commitment and dedication to bring life to all Ghanaians in most deprived rural communities through roads. Labour-Based Technology (LBT): According to the Roads Minister, the Labour-based in road maintenance and rehabilitation policy was reintroduced in 2009; and as at the end of 2011, thirty-three (33) contracts had been awarded creating jobs for about 4,200 “mouths” in the country. Road Maintenance Financing: An automated toll collection was introduced for the first time in this country in September 2010 to improve revenue generation into the Road Fund. The Minister pointed out that since the electronic toll collection came into being, “the Road and Bridge Tolls which used to generate only 2% of total Road Fund revenue now constitute about 17% of the total revenue.” Axle Load Control: To protect the heavy investment Government was pumping in road infrastructure, the Ministry has to intensify the enforcement of the Law on Axle Load Limit as provided in the Road Traffic Act 2004 (Act 683) and ECOWAS Supplementary Act on Axle Load. So far, the Ghana Highway Authority has constructed 14 permanent Weighbridge Stations (PWS) out of a total of 26 programmed for the country. The Ministry has further contracted the supply of six (6) more permanent Weigh equipment while four (4) portable Weigh pads were expected to be awarded soon. Public Private Partnerships (PPP) Having realized that road infrastructure is a capital intensive venture that government alone cannot shoulder, “the Ministry is exploring Public Private Partnership (PPP) schemes in financing, construction and management of road infrastructure,” it was disclosed. The Minister revealed that the contract for the financing, construction and maintenance of an Overpass on the Motorway at Teshie Link has been signed with Trascacco and works will commence soon. “Dualization of the Accra-Cape Coast- Takoradi Road,” is another result of PPP. Mr. Gidisu said Cabinet has given approval for the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement of the dualization of the Accra-Kumasi trunk road and procurement has gone far with Arterial Roads as the main company. Chinese Loan Facility: “The Government has received a loan of US$3billion from China Development Bank towards various infrastructure developments in various sectors of the economy. Part of the loan will be applied for the construction of various roads, notably the Oil Enclave roads in the Western Region and some roads in the Accra Metropolitan Area,” said Mr. Gidisu. Some of these projects are Mpataba-Ekpu-New Town road, Sankor Junction –Cape Three points road, Agona Nkwanta-Discove road, Busua Junction-Princess Town road all in the Western Region. Then the La Beach Road (Accra-Tema) completion project; Area-wide Traffic Control Centre and Intelligent System for Street Lights in Accra. The Minister said about US$180 million would be used to upgrade 400km of Gravel Roads to bitumen surfacing and 300km of earth roads to gravel surface to improve access roads under the Eastern Corridor Multi-Modal Transportation Project, he noted. Status of some major on-going projects: The Government says it is committed to the continuation of road projects started before 2009. Here is evidence provided by the Roads Minister at the Policy Fair: Tetteh Quashie – Madina Road as of 2009 stood at 29% and moved to 75% as of March 2012; Madina –Pantang Road moved from Mobilization to 65%; Achimota –Ofankor Road -22% to 93%; Nsawam Bypass, Mobilization to 96%; Nkwakaw Bypass, Mobilization to 80%; Construction of Sofoline Road was elevated from 5% to 70%; Kumasi –Techiman Road (ph2), 40% to Completion; Oforikrom – Asokwa Bypass moved from 10% to 95%. Other important projects are Sogakope –Adidome-Ho-Fume Road (ph1) was elevated from 70% to total completion; Bamboi –Tinga Road also moved from 55% to completion; Kasardjan Road in Koforidua moved from 40% to a total completion; Accra CDB Roads (High Street & Asafiatse Nettey) as well as Achimota Transport Terminal in the capital moved from 50% and 70% respectively to total completion by March this year. New Road Projects: Besides the inherited on-projects, Government itself has initiated some critical new road projects since 2009. Some of these new projects were categorized into Trunk, Feeder and Urban Roads which the Minister enumerated as follows: Buipe-Tamale (104km) (IDA) - the contract for the rehabilitation/pavement strengthening of this road section has been awarded. The Minister said the contractor has mobilized to site and works have since commenced in earnest; adding that the Contractor is China Jianxi International Corporation. Asikuma Junction-Hohoe Road (45km) (GoG), is another new project for which construction took off in October last year and work is reported to be progressing unabated. The Contactor is GS International Developers, said the Minister. Dodo Pepesu-Nkwata Road reconstruction (46km) (EU) has been awarded to Oumarou Kanazoe of Burkina Faso and work expected to take off in this second quarter of the year. Other crucial new projects include Reconstruction of Nkwanta –Oti Road (58km); Rehabilitation of Adomi Bridge, Reconstruction of Takoradi-Agona Junction (25km); Rehabilitation of Agona Junction – Elubo (25km); Reconstruction of Tarkwa –Bogoso-Ayamfuri (94.4km) and Rehabilitation of Ayamfuri – Asawinso (52.2km) for which evaluation and tenders have been completed and works expected to commence this quarter. Up-north, two contractors have commenced reconstruction works (147km) from both the Fufulso and Sawla ends. Meanwhile, construction of seven (7) Bridges (BADA/GOG) to “remove bottlenecks on the highway network has commended at key locations,” disclosed the Minister. Some of the rivers over which these bridges are to be constructed include Aboabo, Birim, Asuboni and Ochi all in the Eastern Region. Others are Kalanmua and Sissili in the Upper East Region; as well as Nanpeni River in the Brong Ahafo Region. In fact, “Lot 1 is 48% complete and Lot 2 is 44% complete, noted the Roads Minister. District Capital Roads “Sixty-Nine (69) Districts Capitals in all the 10 regions are benefiting from a programme dubbed “District Capital Roads Improvement Project (DCRIP)- Japanese,” said the Minister. According to him, the project has been divided into three phases and works under phases 1, 2, and 3 are 84%, 85%, and 84% completed respectively. All things being equal, 143km of town roads will be surface dressed by the end of phase 3 next year. Other Feeder Roads and Bridges, as well as Urban Roads both in Accra, Kumasi, Tema such as Spintex Road, Dansoman High Street, GIMPA Bypass, Zenu-Ashiaman Road, Ekon Bridge in Cape Cape Coast; Kaase Road in Kumasi, Nalung Roads in Takoradi, CK and Fiave Road in Ho, have been completed or near completion. COCOBOD Funded Programme It is encouraging to learn that COCOBOD has been collaborating with the Ministry in rehabilitation, upgrading and maintenance of roads vital for haulage of cocoa, coffee and sheanuts. So, from Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo in the North to Tema in the South, road projects are on course under the Better Ghana Agenda. In his concluding remarks,Moderator of the Road Sector Dialogue Session, Hon Ben Ephson commented: “If the road engineers in Ghana were sleeping in their offices, they would not have been able to competently handle the questions that were fired at them the way they did!”

Mr.

Joe Gidisu, Minister for Roads and Highways (L) Speaker making his presentation, while Mr. Ben Ephson Editor –in- Chief, The Daily Dispatch (M) Moderator jotting down notes. On the right is a Rep of Ministry of Health at the Policy Fair.

The Writer is Deputy Director/Head of ICT at the Information Services Department,Ministry of Information, Accra -Ghana