RAINS RENDER ROADS DEPLORABLE (PAGE 29, OCT 27, 2010)

THIS year, the northern part of Ghana has witnessed one of its heaviest rains and this has led to the flooding of many communities in the various districts. Lives have been lost, houses collapsed, roads destroyed, farms inundated and communities cut off from each other.
Tamale, the capital of the Northern Region, was not spared its share of the destruction. One person was confirmed dead while several others sustained various degrees of injuries when the buildings they were residing in collapsed on them during the rains.
The daily lives of people living in parts of Gumani, Koblimahagu, Builpela, Kukuo, Wamali and Fuo became a nightmare as they had to move through water and swamp to and from home.
One of the most visible leftovers of the floods was the destruction caused to road networks in the various suburbs of the metropolis.
Some portions of various feeder roads were washed away by the running water, leaving behind large potholes on several portions.
For instance, roads in the Gbewa community, behind the Ghana Senior High School (GHANASCO) in Kukuo, were severely damaged dividing some of the roads into halves.
The residents of the area told the Daily Graphic that the nature of the roads was impeding movement, particularly for drivers of automobiles, as they had to manoeuvre their way through the potholes.
“Sometimes, you just have to park your car at a point and try to cross a ditch to the other side,” Mr Abdul Sadiq, a resident, stated.
One thing that the rains have, however, exposed is the failure of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA) to tar many roads in the city. Apart from the roads in the main township, the rest are dusty roads that are awarded on contract periodically for reshaping.
This year, for instance, the main road in the Gbewa community was reshaped, but the floods have damaged the road once more, thereby leading to a waste of resources.
Except for the late 1990s and between 2002 and 2008, the metropolis has not undergone any major improvements in its road networks in recent times.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the TaMA, Mr Issah Musah, said the assembly had noted the deplorable condition of many roads in the city and had drawn up a comprehensive plan to rehabilitate them.
He said the plan, which was drafted in collaboration with the Urban Roads Department, captured all important roads in the city, but noted that the lack of funds was hindering the implementation of the plan.
Notwithstanding the challenge of lack of finance, Mr Musah insisted that there was some hope that the roads in the metropolis would be improved soon.
He noted, for instance, that some of the major roads had been captured in a proposal for special attention under the Ghana Urban Management Project (GUMP), which is to be sponsored by the French Development Agency (AFD).
These projects, he mentioned, included the upgrading of a portion of Tamale’s second ring road, between TAYSEC Junction and the SSNIT Flat Roundabout and access roads within Tishigu and Moshi Zongo.
The PRO also mentioned the rehabilitation of the Aboabo lorry park and the construction of the Gumani storm drain and retention point as two other projects that had been included in the proposal.
He said whiles the assembly waited for approval to undertake these projects, it had taken some temporary measures such as the rehabilitation of the assembly’s grader, which was being used from time to time to undertake minor repair works on the roads.