Annoh-Dompreh sworn in as Road Fund Board Chair
Majority Chief Whip in Parliament, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has been sworn in as the new Board Chairman of the Road Fund.
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Mr Annoh-Dompreh, was appointed to the 13-member Board together with the Acting Controller and Accountant-General, Kwesi Agyei and Chief Director of the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Amin Abdul-Rahaman.
The appointment of the three to the Board became necessary after the exit of three persons including the chairman of the Board.
Swearing in the new Board members in Accra yesterday, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Francis Asenso-Boakye, tasked the new board to focus on the maintenance of roads across the country.
He said the government’s investment on roads had not been corresponded with their maintenance, stressing such culture had led to the deterioration of many roads in the country.
“Because of financial constraints, maintenance has suffered but we believe that we cannot just be constructing without maintaining them and as a result, I’m charging members of the board that there is a new policy shift to focus on maintenance.
“Therefore, 60 per cent of proceeds from the Road Fund should go into maintenance so that we can protect what we have already done whilst we look for alternative financing for more road development,” Mr Asenso-Boakye said.
In this regard, he said the Board should direct its energies into road maintenance so as to protect the integrity of existing roads.
The government, Mr Asenso-Boakye said, had invested heavily in the road sector having added more than 12,000 kilometres since 2017 surpassing any government in the history of the country.
On behalf of the new members of the Board, Mr Annoh-Dompreh said they would put in their best to ensure the road sector benefited the people.
“We are not going to take our work lightly and it’s not going to be business as usual. The work begins now,” he stated.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh said he would liaise with the Minister of Finance to ensure that necessary funds were released timeously for the execution of road projects.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
