Roads and Highways Minister Kwasi Amoako-Attah, has revealed that Ghana owes about GHS23billion in the road sector.

According to him, the figure could rise after a comprehensive assessment of the situation in the road sector.

He explained that out of the GHS23billion debt, contractors are owed over 1 billion Ghana cedis while the Road Fund is also owed GHS5billion and other commitments in the sector are hovering around GHS15billion and GHS17billion.

He made these revelations when asked to give the total debt in the road sector while speaking to journalists.

Mr Amoako-Attah said: “Over one billion is owed contractors. If you come to the Road Fund, now we are looking in the region of 5 billion [Ghana cedis] that we have to pay for. That is huge and it far outruns what we have in the kitty.

“There are other commitments. Commitment means that jobs that have been given out are not completed for us to pay now, but they are commitments.

“Should the contractors work and complete the work we will be obliged to pay them and that is also huge and we are talking in the region of between 15 and 17 billion [Ghana cedi] commitments.”

He further stated that prudent spending by the government will ensure that all these debts are cleared.

“What it will require is prudent management of resources. This is a difficult situation because the money is not there, the little that is also coming in we have to manage it well to pay part of the debt to the contractors to equip them and to make them a bit liquid so that you can continue the job,” he said.