Urgent attention needed to complete Ofankor-Nsawam road

 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.

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.