Plans are far advanced for the construction of concrete roads across the country instead of asphalting them, according to Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.He said government, in consultation with engineers from the Ministry of Roads, has discovered that concrete roads last longer and less expensive than asphalted ones.
“We have realised that a kilometre of a dual carriage concrete road will cost the country $3.8 million and asphalt $2.8 million, but the concrete road will last for 40 years while the asphalt will last for only ten years,” he stated.
Dr Bawumia said this at a Good Friday service organised by the Light House Chapel International in Accra.He said the Charismatic Bishops’ Conference, led by the Presiding Bishop of Light House Chapel, Dag Heward-Mills, proposed this idea to the government for consideration.
The men of God wondered why Ghana was building asphalt roads but do not produce asphalt in Ghana. They cited the Accra-Tema Motorway as an example, looking at its longevity, compared to asphalt roads.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo immediately took that into consideration and asked engineers at the Roads Ministry to do the comparative analysis and costing.The vice president added that government was taking steps to implement that proposal as part of its transformational development policies.
He therefore, asked Ghanaians to sacrifice a little for the sake of the nation’s development.The vice president said, “We want to be a country that can do things for ourselves and not beg for everything, for we know we can do it.
“Recently, I travelled to Dubai and while chatting with the authorities, I told them we Ghanaians no longer need aid but trade, as we want to develop,” he disclosed.
