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A road expert has attributed the challenges with the timely completion of road projects in the country to the delay in payment.

The Regional Maintenance Manager of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), Eastern Region, Mr Emmanuel Laryea Oddai, said contractors always had to wait for a long time before they were paid, and that had led to some of the road problems.

"Cost overruns run through road projects. If this is addressed, then the engineer can also be held accountable for whatever he is supervising," he said during a project site visit to the Anyinam-Kwabeng-Akropong road.

The visit was under the auspices of the GIZ, the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) and the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ).

Mr Oddai said the delay in payments resulted in the upward review of cost of road projects as a result of rising costs of materials.

"If contractors are paid early enough, it will help them to go by their programmes and we can also hold them to task," he said.

A member of the PIAC, Dr Steve Manteaw, said although the road fund was a dedicated source for maintenance of roads, it had not served its purpose.

"Unfortunately, the minister of Finance collects the money and doesn't pay into the fund, so it is always in arrears, causing delay," he stated.

The projects

The Anyinam-Kwabeng-Akropong is a 10-kilometre road maintenance project awarded in 2012 but actual work started in 2014.

Supervisors say it is about 75 per cent complete and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

It is a Government of Ghana (GoG)-funded project with an original contract sum of GH¢2,244,370 million and the total certified amount to date is GH¢2,216,757 million.

The team also inspected the partial reconstruction of the 23.3-kilometre Odumase-Oterkpolu road. The project was about 80 per cent complete. The original contract amount was GH¢44,005,504.33 but the total certified amount to date is GH¢32,002,436.43.