The Ministry of Roads and Highways has disclosed that it has made the necessary arrangements to have all bad roads leading to the various petroleum tanker yards in the country repaired within the next six months.
Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, Nasir Ahmad Yartey, said in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM that the Tema Oil Refinery road, which was the cause of the agitation, was undergoing repairs until the rains came and interrupted the work, making it impassable.
“I must state that the road in question has a contractor who is currently widening it. The challenge was that, usually, the culvert and drainage have to be built before the main road construction begins, but unfortunately, the contractor could not begin before the rains set in.”
The disclosure follows the decision of the Ghana National Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union and the Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) Tanker Drivers to suspend their sit-down strike over poor roads.
Mr. Yartey added that provisions have been made to have additional machinery on the various construction sites to help with the road construction and improve the movement of trucks.
“The contractor will increase the number of machines on the road and start improving the surface of the road. It will take three weeks to improve the surface of the road, but the main road will be rebuilt to the specifications in the contract, which will take about six months. The contract will stick to that work schedule.”
“The temporary measures he will add are to ensure that while he works on the culverts and drainage system, he should improve the riding surface of the road during this rainy season to make sure that the tankers have a smooth ride as they do their work.”
Raymond Aflo, secretary to the Ghana National Petroleum Drivers Union, said the suspension of the strike is subject to the commitment of the government and the contractor to stay on site until the work is completed.