An executive of Progressive Transport Owners Association (PROTOA) – Hohoe chapter, Mr. Amu Yao has advised the government to consider a public-private partnership in the construction of the Eastern Corridor roads.
“If government does not have money, they should consider a Build-Own-Operate and Transfer (BOOT) agreement with a private investor as it is done elsewhere. They could put a number of toll booths along the stretch to recoup their investment,” Mr. Amu advised.
[contextly_sidebar id=”YxKrMCIdxzHdNkM9S6GaaKAwnBqIyhS8″]Hohoe drivers have blamed the decline in their businesses and livelihoods on the bad nature of the Eastern Corridor road.
They say passengers are now plying other longer routes when traveling to the northern parts of the Volta Region, a situation which is putting undue pressure on those roads and costing them their business.
They also complained that the state of the roads was causing damage to their cars, making them spend huge amounts of money on repairs.
‘One trip, on workshop’
The drivers, last Friday, blocked all major roads and lorry stations within the municipality, bringing the township to a standstill.
The spokesperson for the Coalition of Driver Unions in Hohoe, Mr. Winfred Akpa told Citi News in an interview that government has paid no heed to their plight as the promises made them over the period have not been fulfilled.
“Now, we have to visit the workshop after every trip. We do one trip, one workshop. We are spending so much money in repairing our cars and we cannot even feed our families,” a visibly angry driver said
Being the shortest route between the Southern sector and the Northern sector of the country, the Eastern Corridor Road links 5 regions; the Greater Accra, Eastern, Ashanti, Volta, and Upper East regions.
Speaking to Chiefs from South Dayi, North Dayi, Ho, Ho West, Kpando, Hohoe and Afadjato South, during President Akufo-Addo’s 3-day tour of the Volta Region in July, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Amoako Atta, assured the people of the region that the roads would be fixed by the end of their first tenure in office.
The Minister explained that COCOBOD is funding the Have – Hohoe Lots 1&2 (51.3km), and Hohoe – Jasikan (32km) stretches of the road. Work on these sections has run into difficulties, as payments by COCOBOD have been suspended.
The Dodo Pepesu-Nkwanta section was funded by an EU loan of a little over 320 million euros. It was worked on by Djibril Kanazoe, the renowned Burkinabe contractor.
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By: Benjamin Aklama | citinewsroom.com | Ghana | [email protected]
