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Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister, says work on major roads in the region would resume in September this year.

He said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had directed the Vice President and the Ministry of Finance to secure funds and pay contractors to return to site and fix the roads.

Dr. Letsa, who gave the assurance in an interview with the Ghana News Agency following agitations in the region for the government to fix the roads, said the government was not unaware of the state of roads in the country and the Volta Region, and that everything was being done to fix the roads.

“Government is more worried than those agitating. We all use the road and we know the importance of roads to socio-economic development. The issue is with funding and it is being addressed,” he said. Dr. Letsa said every region had presented three major roads to be fixed, and that for the Volta Region, the Ho-Sokode-Kpeve, Peki-Hohoe and Ho Denu trunk roads were chosen to be addressed with the Sinohydro facility and other sources of funding.

He said work on cocoa roads would also resume, and said though the agitation was legitimate, it was important that the public exercise restraint, as the government had mobilised money to address the concerns.
“It is all about money. We want to fix the roads and fix them well. We are not interested in spot improvement, and this takes money, so our people must be a bit patient. We will fix them as soon as possible,” the Regional Minister said.

He said, for instance, the government was considering asphalting or giving an asphalt base to the Ho-Denu road to ensure its durability. “The roads are embarrassing, but it is not only in the Volta Region, and we will fix them. No need for people to be emotional,” Dr. Letsa stressed.

Mr Kwasi Tsibu Yirenkyi, Volta Regional Manager, National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), said the fixing of Ho-Accra, Ho-Denu and Eastern corridor roads would enhance road safety in the region.
He said though road crashes were on the decline in the region, those stretches needed to be fixed to make road transport reliable and enjoyable.

Madam Joan Fafa Ayer, Volta Regional Assistant Planning Officer, NRSC, said a total of 288 road crashes were recorded in the first half of 2018, against 280 recorded during the same period this year, representing a decrease of 2.78 percent.