The State of the Nation address highlighted so many achievements and further stated some areas of concern that the Current administration is conce
The State of the Nation address highlighted so many achievements and further stated some areas of concern that the Current administration is concentration on.
As it is typically expected, it is standard to look at the past, present and the future in the State of the Nation Address. This is the way it should be done and that is the way it was done. All sectors thinkable were more or less dealt with by by the President define by the time limitations.
In this write up i want to tackle the issue of roads. Yes the world of road engineering or road consrruction. Honestly, I always want to bring engineering issues to non engineers in simple language, cutting out all the technical jargon and fluff.
I have heard one NDC guru (i suspect, Hon. Kwame Agbodza) who was being interviewed by Umaru on CitiFM’s evening news on 30-03-2022 suggest that the President lied about the claim of length of roads constructed in the SONA delivery. He was reminded by the interviewer to use ‘parliamentary’ lingo and thus he reluctantly resorted to the word untruth. Honesty, i was dumbfounded by the assertions being made by him. He talked from the angle of being a technical person and therefore he knew about roads. Surely, I suspect he is within the built
Environment space but i will be disturbed if he is a Civil Engineer/ Roads Engineer. He may be pardoned if he is not.
What baffled my mind was his reasoning in questioning what is a new road. His position was that the President’s claim that 10885 km of new roads had been constructed is wrong. He claims that, not all the roads can be new because some of them are resurfaced roads etc. I find this position very mischievious and unexpected if he is a professional in the built environment industry. I suspect his only mission was mischief. What are my basis?
In simple terms, one may ask what is a road? A road to me is any length between two points on land purposely earmarked for vehicular traffic movements with other modes of transport traversing that route, where applicable. These roads may be Highways/National Trunk Roads, Urban Roads, Feeder Roads, Access roads and unengineered roads as is observed in between chalets in farms in the countryside. This is generally the classification of roads. Period.
The concept of a new road must be discussed. This is where the mischief lies as propagated by the Hon. Agbodza. In the real sense of the definition of a new road, the default position will be the construction of a new segment of route between two points. This means the road never existed. A new route identified, entirely new vertical and horizontal alignments designed, land cleared and prepared to recieve materials to attain completion . That is what by default a new road is.
If we are to go by this definition above, which government can list 10 km of new roads constructed in the country? Do you see the point i am making? The carrying out of new road works on existing roads qualifies those roads to be called new roads. For example, the Fufulso Sawla (To Damango) Road which was rehabilitated by the NDC government surely was a new road construction. It is new not because that road did not exist and a new road route was constructed by the Mahama Administration. It is designated new because, it was rehabilitated. That is the fact. Based on this explanation, it is misleading to suggest that the 10885 km of roads are not new roads because they were not built from scratch. Similarly to such that beach road although being rehabilitated can not be classifed as a new road works is questionable. If his is the position of the NDC, then it means they cannot even claim to have built 10km of roads in their 8 years under Ex President Mahama. How many new roads did the NDC build under ex President Mahama? They should give us a list.
Imagine this, you started building a house about ten years ago and it is currently occupied by caretakers.The building is now completed and you move into the building, have you moved into a new house or old house. When an architect redesigns and retrofits a building, is it a new building or old building?
For the records, the NDC claimed in the past, to have constructed the Kukuom -Yankye Road in Asunafo South Constituency in Ahafo Region. You are welcome to tour that road and you will see that it was absolute conjecture. When they had not even touched the road, they claimed they constructed a new road.
The unparalleled road infrastructure being etched across the geographic landscape of this country is monumental and a clear attestation that indeed, when the NPP said ‘ Year of Roads’, they meant it. The NDC has clearly seen the failure of their adminstration in the provision of Road infrastructure comparatively to what has been accomplished by the Akuffo Addo adminstration. TheBog are left with no other option than to resort to propaganda and denial of the reality.
In the same Interview, the gentleman accused the NPP of Awarding Road contracts of value 40 Billion Ghana cedis and debts of 9 Billion Ghana cedis owed to Road Contractors. What is the problem here? The fact that more roads are being built with (let us assume) little money available to finance the construction? Very funny. I think, that the government should be applauded for building more roads with scarce resources especially during these difficult times brought about as a result of covid and the Russia – Ukraine war, to list a few.
It is obviously clear that the NDC is astonished by the quantum of roads worked on by this NPP Government.
Indeed the Year of Roads Policy is not just mantra. The Interchange President is delivering, the RoadMaster is on course.
Mo ne y) Nana.
By Hon. Ing. Kobby Amoa-Mensah
NPP PC 2020, Asunafo South
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