President John Dramani Mahama at the weekend gave the assurance that government would asphalt more urban roads in all the regional and District capitals.

He said this would spare government the agony of carrying out routine maintenance.

President Mahama gave the assurance when he cut the sod for the commencement of the asphalt overlay programme at Accra central.

The programme, which is being financed by the Brazilian government through Societe Generale Group, would cover a total of 76 kilometres in the Greater Accra Region.

He named some of the beneficiary communities in the Region as; Bukom, Jamestown, Mamprobi, Laterbiokorshie, Dansoman, Mantse Agbonaa, Chorkor, Madina, La Dadekotopon and Adentan.

The rest include; Tema, Ningo-Prampram, Ashaiman and Teshie-Nungua.

President Mahama explained that although road asphalting is more expensive, it is cost effective because its lifespan could range from 10 to 15 years depending on the way it is treated.

He, therefore, cautioned beneficiary communities against washing their cars on the roads, spilling oil and cooking on the roads.

He said such practices could speed up the deterioration of the roads government is spending millions of Cedis to work on.

The President also appealed to the beneficiary communities to cooperate with the contractors to enable them execute the project on schedule as they are slated to be completed within the year.

Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, Minister of Roads and Highways announced that out of a total of 14,500 kilometres of urban roads in Ghana, only 55 per cent of them are considered good, 13 per cent fair and 32 per cent poor.

He said inspite of the asphalting overlay programme, other roads would be re-sealed and re-surfaced to protect them and offer better road services to the driving public.
He said the criteria for selection for asphalting in the region included; roads with pavement, those with minor drainage issues, reasonable amount of traffic and those with strategic importance especially those leading to health facilities and markets.
Nii Lante Vanderpuije, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, who is also the Member of Parliament for Odododiodo, where the programme took place, gave the assurance that his constituency would vote massively for the National Democratic Congress in this year's general election.