Politicians can’t continue taking blame for road failures – Agbodza

He said while politicians and policymakers were expected to deliver on government’s development commitments, engineers and other technical officers must ensure that contractors execute projects according to agreed standards and timelines.

Mr Agbodza made the remarks during an inspection of the 55-kilometre Bediako Junction–Camp 15–Sefwi Adabokrom road in the Bia East District, which links the Ahafo and Western Regions.

The Minister expressed concern about the level of monitoring and supervision of road projects by Regional Highways Directors, particularly their reluctance to provide firm assessments of contractors’ performance.

He said technical officers must take ownership of projects under their supervision and provide government with accurate information to enable timely intervention.

“But you can see why they were not able to meet the time we went, and contractors were lagging, and we advised them, and they took it.”

According to the Minister, some contractors had significantly increased the pace of work after government officials raised concerns about delays.

“Many of them have even doubled the pace of work they’ve done,” he said.

However, Mr Agbodza criticised the supervision of ongoing works on the Bediako Junction–Camp 15–Sefwi Adabokrom road, questioning why certain construction activities were being undertaken without the necessary preparatory work.

“What is the use of a compactor here when you are yet to even cast the culvert?” he asked.

He also criticised what he described as a tendency among some officials to visit project sites without taking sufficient responsibility for what happens on the ground.

“When they come, they don’t know what they are doing. They drive in their Land Cruisers and leave. Is that what you think?” he asked.

Mr Agbodza insisted that responsibility for road project performance must extend beyond political leaders to the engineers and technical officers supervising the works.

“Everybody must back up, including our engineers,” he said.

“Politicians cannot continue to take blame for work that you are being paid to do. It doesn’t matter which political party is in power. We can’t continue taking blame for what others are paid to do.”