The Ghanaian Times has decided to focus today’s editorial on the Ofankor-Nsawam road again, given its strategic importance to the socio-economic development of the country.
This road, which forms part of the Accra-Kumasi highway (National Route 6), is the only major road linking Accra to the Northern parts of Ghana and further to our Sahelian neighbours, including Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
These landlocked countries depend heavily on the Tema Port to clear their goods, which makes the road an international trade route of immense economic significance.
Currently, reconstruction work on the 33.4-kilometre stretch has stalled.
As reported in this paper, the road has deteriorated badly, with large potholes and pools of water making vehicular movement extremely difficult and unsafe.
Sections of the road have turned into ‘gullies’, while heavy-duty trucks tip over regularly in their struggle to navigate the craters, leading to gridlocks that last for several hours.
The recent incident in which commuters were held up for more than 15 hours between Amasaman and Medie painfully illustrates the dire state of the road.
From last Thursday evening until late Friday morning, travellers, including long-distance passengers, truck drivers, and even local commuters, were stranded, unable to move.
Some had to walk long distances or resort to commercial motorbikes to reach their destinations, while others, including truck drivers carrying perishable or flammable goods, were forced to spend the night on the road in their vehicles.
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The human and economic costs of such incidents are enormous.
Passengers are inconvenienced, businesses lose money, perishable goods go to waste, and lives are endangered.
Some commercial drivers have even taken advantage of the situation to increase fares, compelling already burdened passengers to pay more than double the normal rates.
A journey that should ordinarily take less than 45 minutes now drags on for two to three hours on a good day.
The Ghanaian Times strongly urges the government to take urgent steps to address the challenges stalling the project.
Issues of funding, compensation, and clearing the right of way for the contractor to get access to the project site to work must urgently be tackled.
Further delays will not only deepen the hardship of commuters but also escalate the cost of construction.
Given the country’s already precarious fiscal position, any additional burden on the Consolidated Fund will undermine the economic recovery efforts being pursued under the Extended Credit Facility programme with the International Monetary Fund.
We therefore call on the government, through the Ministry of Roads and Highways, to prioritise the completion of the Ofankor-Nsawam road.
This project is too important to be left hanging. Completing it will bring immediate relief to commuters, reduce travel time and transport costs, facilitate trade, and boost socio-economic activities along the corridor.
