GOVT ASKED TO SPEED UP ROAD PROJECT (PAGE 38)

Farmers in 18 villages in the Lake Bosomtwe catchment area have appealed to the government to speed up the construction of the 30-kilometre Bekwai-Asiwa feeder road to facilitate the transportation of foodstuffs and cash crops to urban markets.
The construction of the road, they said, would contribute a great deal to prevent the perennial post-harvest losses in the area.
The villages include Aboabo, Adeito, Kokoben, Dwoamin, Boagyaa, Besease and Dunkuraas.
The farmers, who are currently harvesting perishable non-traditional cash crops such lettuce, green pepper, water yams and garden eggs, said vehicles from Takoradi, Kumasi and Accra had stopped plying the route because of its state of disrepair.
As a result, the spokesman of the farmers, Mr Yaw Payin, said lettuce and other cash crops which had been transported from the farm gates to the roadside stood the danger of getting rotten.
This came to light when the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, travelled on the road from Bomfa Junction through Asiwa to inspect progress of work on the road.
The minister, who was impressed by the hard work of the farmers to produce for export when the road network was completed, assured them that the government would consider breaking the road project into smaller lots to ensure its early completion.
He observed that because of the fertility of the soil in the area, the farmers did not require the use of chemical fertilisers but organic manure to grow their vegetables to make them healthier than those grown in the cities.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ejisu-Juaben, Mr Kwabena Owusu Aduomi, who accompanied the minister to inspect roads in the area, said the farmers could export the cash crops as products from pure organic farming.
Mr Aduomi said the area was also endowed with tourist sites such as the Lake Bosomtwe and that the construction of the road could assist to revive the economy of the area through tourism, fishing and organic farming.
He said the road, which was originally a footpath, had been transformed into a feeder road through rehabilitation and gravelling but expressed concern that the rehabilitation had been carried out after the farmers had suffered post-harvest losses.
The MP, therefore, appealed to the minister to ensure that the rehabilitation works began and ended before the harvest seasons to help reduce losses to the farmers.
Mr Gidisu was accompanied on the inspection tour by the Chief Executive of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), Mr Kwadwo Aboagye; the directors of the departments of Urban Roads and Feeder Roads, Dr D.D. Darku and Mr Klemeso Ashong, respectively.