BAD ROADS IN WR TO BE TACKLED NEXT YEAR (PAGE 20)

CONSTRUCTION of good roads is an integral part of the development agenda in any country.
any bad road network is likely to militate against the development taking place in the other sectors of the national economy, be it industry, commerce, agriculture, mining, or some other.
The Western Region has had its problem of bad road network, but for the past four years, the region has witnessed the reconstruction of some of the important trunk roads in the region.
Some of the roads undergoing reconstruction are those linking Axim Junction with Tarkwa and Sefwi Wiawso with Benkyemaa while construction work on the Asankrangua-Enchi road is progressing steadily.
One very important road in the region which is in a very bad state is the Tarkwa-Bogoso road. The road has deteriorated to the extent that not a single day passes without an accident occurring on the road.
Many users of the road have expressed concern about its deplorable nature.
The Western Regional Director of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), Mr Joseph Kwadwo Nsiah, has however, allayed the fears of the people, with the assurance that the contract for the complete reconstruction of the road would be awarded next year.
He told the Daily Graphic that the 99-kilometre road, stretching from Tarkwa to Bogoso through Bawdie and Nkonya in the Western Region to Ayanfuri in the Central Region, would be asphalted.
"All things being equal, the European Union (EU) would fund the reconstruction of the road from Tarkwa to Bogoso through Bawdie and even beyond," he said.
Mr Nsiah said the designs for the road had been reviewed with the final design to be completed. If everything goes through, the road would be worked on by three different contractors.
Mr Nsiah said under the EU programme, all the narrow bridges on the road would be reconstructed and widened.
He described the road as very important considering the type of vehicles that plied it as well as the type of goods they carried, adding that if the road was blocked, there would be a big problem since there was no alternative route between Ayanfuri and Tarkwa.
According to him, that road linked the northern part of the Western Region to the southern part.
Meanwhile, the GHA is carrying out routine maintenance work on the road to keep it safe.
"In this respect, pothole patching and resealing contracts have been awarded to contractors at various sections of the road,” Mr Nsiah stated.
He said work had already started on it and was progressing steadily.