The Ministry of Roads and Highways and its sector Agencies namely, Ghana Highway Authority, Department of Feeder Roads, Department of Urban Roads, Ghana Road Fund Secretariat and The Koforidua Training Centre, held its 2016 Annual Retreat under the Theme: “Consolidating National Efforts towards Better Road Infrastructure, Maintenance and Financing” in Ho from 8th to 11th March.
The retreat brought together over 90 participants from the ministry and all five sector agencies from the 10 regions of the country. The opening session of the retreat was chaired by Hon. Francis Komla Ganyaglo, Volta Region Deputy Minster.
Hon. Al haji Inusah Fuseini, minister of roads and highways in his speech to the participants highlighted on the need for policy directions for the ministry and also expressed the implications of the IMF agreement on the operations of the ministry.
Other matters that were discussed included the review of the 2015 action plan and communique of the ministry, executive strategies for sustainable maintenance and financing of roads, also the 2015 financial report of the ministry was presented.
A total of 10 presentations were made by representatives from the Ministry Of Roads And Highways as well as agencies and also from two invited guests, Dr. Frederick Yaw Addo-Abedi and Hon. Cassiel Ato Forson.
The retreat participants held discussions in syndicate groups to further deliberate on the actionable steps to be taken to address the challenges in the sub-sector.
The participants of the 2016 annual retreat comprising of the Ministry Of Roads And Highways and its agencies and other stakeholders discussed the need to be mindful of the current financial situation of the country in light of the IMF extended credit facility;
Participants were also concerned with the need to further strengthen the mechanisms of road financing and management; Recognizing the need to develop and maintain a credible database on contractors workload for use by all agencies during evaluation bids; Aware of the need to improve information flow within the sector; Convinced of the need to employ the use of scientific methods for the selection of roads, planning, and programme and budgeting; Know the contributions required of the road sub-sector to the achievement of key objectives under governments Better Ghana Agenda and finally draw inspiration from the deliberations and discussions at the retreat.
At the end of the retreat, the Ministry and its agencies and stakeholders resolved on five key things, and they included;
- Improve assessment mechanisms of contractors performance for effective delivery of projects
- Commit to implement strategies to reduce the road sector debt portfolio
- Undertake to improve stakeholder engagement to foster better understanding of the ministry’s plans and programmes
- Undertake to improve information flow within the sector and also introduce mechanisms to effectively disseminate to the general public
- Commit to ensure efficient and effective project preparation using industry best practises.
By David Acquah
