Africa-Press – Ghana. Dr Donald Agumenu, a Project Management expert, has called for the establishment of an independent monitoring and evaluation agency to validate all infrastructural projects in the country. He said that was the only way to ensure quality assurance and get value for money invested in such projects.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the poor state of some roads in the country, Dr Agumenu said it was unfortunate that infrastructural projects, especially roads began to deteriorate a few months after construction, causing motorists huge discomfort and carnages.
He said such an agency would serve as “a clearinghouse for projects, especially at this moment where the cost of infrastructure is growing at an alarming rate.” The Project Management expert lamented the poor nature of the Denu-Ho Road in the Volta Region and said it needed immediate attention.
He noted that roads in that region, especially those adjoining entry points to Togo, were the conduits for haulage trucks loading from the Lome Port and for onward transit movements to Cote D’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
However, Dr Agumenu said the roads had been ignored by successive governments over the years posing danger to users and giving the country a bad image.
“For instance, the road connecting from Ketu North through Akatsi North on the Dzodze-Xevi stretch and that from Weta to Xevi through Kpetoe have become death traps. The same applies to Akatsi-Dakpa and many others across the country. As for Ho-Accra’s main road, it is horrifying!
“It is important at this moment for us to make our roads a top priority so that we can mitigate road crashes and improve trade,” he stated.
Dr Agumenu said: “It is gratifying to underscore the fact that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Corridor Road connecting to Akanu and Aflao is in attractive shape. However, a few kilometres from Aflao Police Station to the Diamond Cement factory, serving the sub-regional market is a complete shame.”
“Beyond the debates, I think the time is riper to embark on a national monitoring and evaluation campaign to access the health status of the already existing roads, newly constructed ones and works in progress,” he stated.
“I am respectfully appealing to the Minister of Roads, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Road and Chairman of the Road Fund to take a tour among other things on some critical roads in the country, including those in the Volta Region as a matter of urgency,” to reduce road crashes, promote trade and grow the local economy, Dr Agumenu said.
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