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MEMBERS OF the Western Regional House of Chiefs were virtually on their knees yesterday, begging the NDC government to, as a matter of urgency, do something about the continuous deterioration of the road network in the region. They intimated that the deplorable state of the roads in the region reduced trade transaction drastically, thus affecting revenue generation. They said it was pathetic to note that the Western region produced a greater percentage of the country�s natural resources, but had the worst road network. �Since the Western region produces the chunk of the country�s cocoa, gold, timber, bauxite, rubber and now oil, one would have thought that the government will give priority to roads in the region�, the chiefs added. They mentioned in particular the Tarkwa-Bogoso-Ayamfuri road, on which construction should have begun but had not even though President Mills had cut the sod for its construction somewhere in July this year. The road is to provide an effective south-north link between the Western, Central and Brong-Ahafo regions. The chiefs expressed these sentiments at the last meeting of the Regional House of Chiefs at Sekondi on Thursday. Awulae Agyefi Kwame, Paramount chief of the Nsein traditional area who was the first to make a submission on the issue, indicated that because of the bad road network, commuting in some parts of the region had become very daunting. He also expressed worry about the rate at which illegal miners, popularly called �galamseyors�, were polluting the various sources of drinking water in the region as a result of their activities in the rivers. Other members of the House who corroborated Awulae Agyefi Kwame�s concerns were Nana Kwesi Agyeman, Paramount Chief of Upper Discove and Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi, Paramount chief of the Ahnwiaso traditional area. The Western Regional Minister, Paul Evans Aidoo, expressed government�s commitment to rehabilitate the major roads of the region to facilitate the transportation of natural resources to the commodity markets. He noted that the Department of Highways and Feeder Roads in the Western region had also been directed to immediately rehabilitate the dangerous portions of the main cocoa and timber roads, while measures were being put in place to tar them. Mr. Aidoo mentioned that government had so far demonstrated its readiness to implement policies that would end the deteriorating economic situation. He called on the chiefs to assist the government to ensure that there was peace in the country before, during and after the 2012 general elections.