Financial Loss To The State On Juapong – Adidome Road

Construction of a road of about 47km is taking about eight (8) years to complete

Transport fare on the route is about two and half (2.5) times what others pay on other routes with similar distance but alsphated road

Residents in the enclave are more concerned about the potential financial loss to the state than having alsphated road.

This route, Adidome to Juapong is the primary alternative route available if Sogakope bridge is to be closed for any kind of work.

This important route connects the three (3) Tongu Districts in the Volta Region together and even link them with both Eastern Region and Greater Accra Region

Roads construction are definitely are definitely an expensive venture. It is for this reason minimizing waste in road construction is equally an important component to address. However it is turning out that that the wastage in constructing the road from Juapong to Adidome may be more than the actual cost needed for the road. Or such an amount could be used to construct other equally important route of roads in the area.

The road from Juapong to Adidome, which is about 47km, has long been a feeder road even though it is such an important route. At a point, motorists who wish to avoid the route because of its bad nature had to use an alternative route through Ho, which is about 130km.

The Juapong to Adidome road luckily got awarded for construction before the year the year 2016 but works were slow and minor until the year 2017 when serious work began. There was joy and jubilation among residents of communities in the enclave and even those afar who would have the opportunity to shorten their traveling time, when alphating began in 2018. The joy of the people were short lived when the alphating was done for about only half of the distance. The remaining section has almost turned into cash drain since then.

It is revealing to note that, every year since half of the road distance was alphated, the remaining portion has always been graded yearly, sands spread and compacted on the road normally before the raining season. Only for the rains to wash away tje compacted sands poured on the road. And the scenario repeated the following year.

The question people keep asking is why state money would be used to being workforce to site, spend money to ofload sand on the road and heavy epuipmem brought to site for a job that is not supposed to be completed and/or to waste. Community members, who claim even they who are not civil engineers, they do not believe any scientific reason behind the practice of dumping sands on the road for the rains to keep washing them away.

At the moment, the community members are more worried about the waste of state resources in the name of the road than even their desires to have an alsphated road.

Due to the nature of the road, the transport fare charged is about two and half (2.5) times what other routes of similar distance but are alsphated like Adidome to Sogakope

Governments over the years continue to suffer shortfall in revenue mobilisation yet it seems the beaurocracy and planning favours wastage of scarce resources than it favour revenue generation.

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