The Volta Regional Minister, Archibald Letsa wants residents in the Volta Region to be calm as the government works assiduously to fix the bad roads there.
He says the government will by the end of this year ensure that the deplorable roads in the region are given a face lift to bring relief to them.
Residents of the Volta Region have been protesting over the terrible conditions of major road projects such as the famous Eastern Corridor Road, the dualization of the Ho Major Roads and the Ho-Aflao roads.
But speaking in an interview, Dr. Letsa argued that the government’s commitment to improving the country’s road networks will compel the Roads Minister to expedite the processes involved to bring contractors on site.
“Contractors are mobilizing to start work in a week or two. They are organizing their equipment. I can assure the people of Ghana that roads, is on the priority of this government. Before the end of the year, they will see a great improvement on our roads. The Roads Minister is in Ho now, and we are going to address the issues of roads of the Volta Region as we go along.”
“The Ho-Denu road is on the drawing board. Estimates have been made but there is no procurement yet but we do routine maintenance on the road. What we can do is to do remedial works to make it motorable. All the assurances are being given the people of the region that just as all roads in the other regions are to be tackled, those in the Volta Region will also be addressed”, he added.
Agitations have been rife over the past few months with a social media campaign, to mount pressure on the government to pay attention to the numerous bad roads in the region.
The group earlier gave the government a number of deadlines to bring the contractors back onto the roads but to no avail.
Roads being fixed ahead of President’s visit
Meanwhile, ahead of President Akufo-Addo’s visit to the region, work has resumed on some main roads in the Volta Region.
Some residents in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region say that they expect the President to among other things, address the issue of bad roads during his two-day tour.
“Potholes that are on the major roads that we have been crying over are now being filled. I don’t know the intention behind that. But what I can say is that it is a way of deceiving the President in the first place so he has a feeling that he is working. But, I am expecting that his coming to the region should serve as a call point for him to see how deplorable our road networks are in the region.”
Another said:
“We want him to address the issues of bad roads. About a month ago, we had campaigners calling for contractors to come back on our roads. But after all that, we have not seen any contractor. It shows that the government is not listening to the people.”