The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Roads and Transport Committee, Governs Kwame Agbodza has described the government's directive to directors of the various Urban Roads Departments across the country not to sign any contract for routine or periodic maintenance of roads as unacceptable.

He said the directive will further worsen the already bad nature of roads in the country.

Portions of a letter in the public circle states that ban has been placed on the award of new routine and periodic maintenance contracts.

Excerpts of the letter read: “Management has been instructed not to award any new Routine or Periodic Maintenance Contracts till further notice. You are therefore to take note and abide by this directive…As a consequence, any Payment Certificate received for a new Contract shall be returned immediately to its original source.”

Reacting to the letter however, Mr Agbodza described the directive as unacceptable, urging the government to reverse it and invest in maintaining the country’s dilapidated roads.

“News of government’s decision not to commit to new projects in terms of routine and periodic maintenance is unacceptable. We are in the time of the year when most of our roads are deteriorating because of the rains…You can see already many communities agitating for government intervention to remedy the situation to fix their roads,” he said.

He underscored the need for government to reassess its priorities in the roads sector.

He said the government must cease cutting funding to the roads sector in order to allow for the much-needed maintenance works to be undertaken.

“We would have thought that government would put more resources into routine and periodic maintenance and probably suspend work on new projects and other things. If it is about money, I say that it is time for the government to prioritise how it spends the taxes it collects. The government takes money in the name of road fund and use it for other things,” he stated.