President John Dramani Mahama has explained that the government’s Big Push road projects will be implemented in phases due to limitations on the available budget.
Speaking during the first day of the two-day ‘Resetting Ghana Tour’ in the Upper West Region, President Mahama said the government could not undertake all road projects across the country at the same time and would therefore have to prioritise projects based on available resources.
He made the remarks while inspecting the Wa–Han Big Push road project.
“Everybody thinks that we can do all their roads at once. We cannot do that. There’s a limit to the budget that we have,” President Mahama said.
He explained that the government had prioritised major trunk roads, particularly those connecting regional capitals, before turning its attention to feeder roads linking communities and towns to the main road network.
“And so there’s Big Push Phase 1, we’re scoping Big Push Phase 2, and there’ll be a Big Push Phase 3,” he stated.
Trunk roads to take priority
President Mahama said prioritising trunk roads would provide residents in surrounding communities with better access to the main road network while the government gradually addresses feeder roads.
“As we go, we’ll move from the trunk roads to the other feeder roads that link up with the trunk roads,” he explained.
He said completing the major routes would allow residents from different constituencies to connect to the main roads before feeder roads into communities and towns are subsequently developed.
President Mahama added that several other roads had been identified for construction in the Upper West Region and would be tackled progressively under the different phases of the Big Push programme.
Mahama confident in quality of road project
The President also expressed confidence in the quality of work being done on the road project, saying he expected to return to the region the following year to commission the completed road.
“We’ll be here next year to come and commission the road, and I’m sure that the quality of the road will be good,” he said.
President Mahama further disclosed that the road would eventually receive an asphalt surface from Wa to Bolgatanga after the completion of the double-surface dressing.
“After we do the double-surface dressing, we will then seal the whole road with asphalt from Wa to Bolga, so that at least we know that for the next 30 years, the road will last and will require just very little maintenance,” he said.
By:Rachael Djabakie