The Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry says it expects the newly constituted Road Fund Board to work assiduously to achieve government’s year of roads agenda.
Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Emmanuel Cherry, stated that “…the second year of roads is a mandate that the board must quickly prioritize to make sure that they realise that call made by the president.”
The Nana Akufo-Addo administration, in its quest to address the poor road networks in the country, declared 2020, as the “Year of Roads”.
The President subsequently declared 2021 as the “second year of roads”.
Despite this announcement, the road fund board was constituted earlier this month after several agitations by owed contractors and the construction chamber.
Mr Emmanuel Cherry added that his outfit is committed to collaborating with the board for the attainment of the government’s roads vision.
“That is one of the daunting challenges I believe the board is going to have because, now, the fund is saddled with debt, and they are also to do as much as possible to fulfil the mandate given them by the president.”
“In as much as this will be the case, we are assuring the board that, the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry with its allied bodies are much ready to partner government to bring investors on board to make sure that Public-Private Partnerships projects, Build Operate and Transfer projects are taken care of accordingly.”
On efforts being made to pay off owed contractors, the Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwesi Amoako-Atta speaking at the inauguration of the 13-member Road Fund Board had indicated that GHS800 million has been made available to settle the debt.
The construction chamber welcomed the move, although it did indicate that the amount was inadequate.