In a bid to improve the road infrastructure in the Bono region, the government has delivered 96 trucks and earth moving equipment as part of a nationwide District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP) at New Dormaa in Sunyani on Wednesday, 21st August, 2024.
The equipment, which includes 12 Tipper Trucks, 12 Graders,12 Back Hoes, 12 Water Tankers, 12 Rollers, 12 Wheel Loaders, 6 Bulldozers, 3 Low beds, 3 Concrete Mixers, and 24 trucks, will be used to rehabilitate and maintain roads in the Bono region. This initiative is part of the government’s commitment to improving transportation networks in rural areas and boosting economic development.
The delivery of the trucks and earth moving equipment is a significant step towards achieving the government’s goal of improving road infrastructure across the country. The equipment will be distributed to all the twelve districts in the Bono region to kickstart road improvement projects.
At an official ceremony to re-launch the District Road Improvement Programme, the Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu Banahene, emphasized the importance of maintaining and upgrading roads in the Bono region to facilitate the movement of goods and people. She also highlighted the government’s efforts to improve road safety and reduce travel times for residents in the region.
” 2022/2023 was a year of roads and this is the continuity, now the year of roads in the hands of the region RCC, and the assemblies and with these machines all the corner corners, every area will be accessible. Especially those roads that lead to farms, small communities where food and farm produce whether cash crops or food crops and many other things can be transported to the market and then again where small cars, motokings, bicycles and other things will be able to access so that when somebody is sick they can bring the person to the big community for him or her to access medical attention,” she said.
According to her government’s commitment to improving road infrastructure in the Bono region is a positive development that will benefit residents and businesses in the area. ” These machines can employ more than three hundred (300) people in the region, again the assemblies and all other stakeholders will also come onboard and we are also going to have some committees who will be checkers of these equipment, so indirectly we will have other people too who will be employed onboard,” she added.
The District Chief Executive for Dormaa East, Emmanuel Kofi Agyemang expressed gratitude for the government’s investment in improving road infrastructure. He believes that better roads will not only enhance connectivity but also stimulate economic growth and improve the quality of life for his people. ” Now that we have these machines is a very bid relief for us as assembly, as well as farmers and commuters” he stated.
He emphasized that their deplorable roads are being shaped from time to time but at a huge cost. ” Sometimes when you don’t have so much money you have to go and hire or you have to give it on contract, is quite expensive and when you don’t have money it takes time before you can do that.”
Bono Regional Coordinator of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Emmanuel Abasiya, outlined that to ensure optimal performance and maintenance of the equipment AJ plant pool has deployed 32 mobile service vans equiped with specialized tools for 24/7 support. He added that their workshops located in all 16 regions along with tracking and telimatic devices will offer comprehensive after sales services, and additionally their state of the art call center will handle equipment tracking and compliant management across all 261 districts.
“J. A. Plant Pool has partnered with the 48 Engineering Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces to ensure the security and discipline use of the of the equipment. This partnership aims to maximize the efficiency and responsibility in the operation of the DRIP”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo -Addo on July 31, 2024, launched the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), a flagship initiative aimed at strengthening decentralization and empowering local authorities.
The programmes seeks to address the deplorable state of many rural roads across the country, which hinder community connect and trade as well as improve the quality of life for Ghanaians.
