Tamale, (Northern Region) 25 Jan. '99,

The Department of Urban Roads (DUR) has earmarked 4.4 billion cedis for road the rehabilitation of projects in Tamale municipality this year. Half of the amount will be spent to complete on-going projects and the rest will go into newly-proposed projects, which include re- gravelling, resealing, resurfacing, drainage and spot improvement works. Mr. George Koranteng, maintenance engineer of the department, made this known during an annual review conference of the department in Tamale, under the theme, ''Effective maintenance, the key to consolidating road sector investment''. Projects to be tackled include: the surfacing of North Lamashegu and Kukuo roads, drainage works on the Lamashegu-Yapei road and Gumani area and re-gravelling of Gurugu-Tamale roads. Mr. Koranteng indicated that routine maintenance involving reshaping, re-grading, pothole-patching and cleaning of culverts will also be carried out. Mr Theodore Quaye, municipal engineer, said the DUR is charged with the planning, development, maintenance and administration of roads in the municipality at optimum cost to ensure efficient and safe mobility for all road users in a reasonable comfort. He said future plans and programmes of the department include traffic management studies, stepping up of maintenance activities and packaging of new projects to attract funding. Mr. D. K. Sintim Aboagye, Northern Regional Director of the Ghana Highway Authority, called for high standard of workmanship, the use of good quality materials and timely interventions by road sector agencies to ensure longer life span of the roads and preserve the huge capital investments. Chief Superintendent of Police G. A. Manu, the Deputy Regional Police commander, said it is mandatory for drivers to be familiar with road signs, traffic rules and regulations to minimise the number of road accidents. GRi