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Government has so far paid over five billion Ghana cedis as outstanding arrears to road contractors since 2017, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta, the Minister of Roads and Highways, announced this in Accra, on Wednesday.

Government made the payment through the Consolidated Fund and the Road Fund to contractors with Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs) at the cut-off date of August 2019.

Government paid 100 per cent of contractors it owed up to GH¢ 5m made up of 168 contractors while 210 contractors it owed above five million Ghana cedis received 40 per cent of the amount owed.

In addition, government paid GH¢ 482 million to contractors it owed GH¢ 500, 000 totaling 4,212 single-man contractors, who mostly desilted drains and cut off vegetation along the roads.

Also, contractors that government owed GH¢10, 000 and above comprising 43 contractors had been paid GH¢584 million being 100 per cent payment, while those government owed GH¢500,000 and below GH¢10 million had received GH¢138.1 million.

Mr Amoako-Atta, who made this known at the road sector retreat in Accra, said government sees infrastructure development as the pivot around which the socio-economic development of the country revolved.

Currently, government needs about GH¢30.5 billion to pay the cost of uncompleted roads and other commitment made under the Road Infrastructure Development programme.

Meanwhile, government has also selected three critical roads in each of the 16 regions for construction this year.

The Roads Minister said government was paying greater attention to road infrastructure development and, therefore, declared “2020 as the Year of Roads” since 98 percent of transportation of commuters and goods were carried on road network.

The retreat brought together key stakeholders in the road sector including the Ghana Chamber of Construction, Association of Road Contractors, Directors at the sector Ministry and all the 16 Regional Ministers.

They would brainstorm on the current conditions of road infrastructure in the country and come out with a blueprint on strategies and realistic plans to achieve the government’s road infrastructure objectives.

Of the 78,000 kilometres of the country’s total road network, only 23 percent had been paved with 39 percent considered good, 32 per cent fair and 29 per cent poor.