The Member of Parliament for Jomoro Constituency in the Western Region, Dorcas Affo Toffey, has called for non-politicization of the District Road Implementation Programme (DRIP).
The MP said the programme was approved by all members of the Parliament and therefore politicizing it will not help with its implementation.
President Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, launched the DRIP in Accra.
The aim was to give all the 261 Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies each, an earth-moving equipment to enable them to reshape roads in their respective jurisdictions.
The Jomoro MP, reacting to the DRIP initiative on her social media pages after the launch said “personally, I have single-handedly overseen the reshaping of over 50 kilometers of roads in my constituency. These including the Ankasa Forest roads, Kablasuazo roads, Bonyere roads, Ezinlibo roads, and Mpataba roads”
Madam Affo Toffey said the programme, if well implemented, will take off pressure from MPs who have bad roads and as such always under pressure from constituents to fix these roads. It will also help alleviate the sufferings passengers and drivers go through in various communities that have bad roads.
“The deplorable state of this road is a major concern, causing significant stress to drivers and other road users”‘ she explained.
The MP said, “I am confident that this initiative, if implemented effectively, will at least help reshape the Samenye Barrier to Half Asini Road, bringing much-needed relief to its users”.
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has clarified that the DRIP was financed by the MPs and the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).
The Minority in a statement urged, “we wish to plead that each one of us should not forget to indicate that the road maintenance equipment commissioned today was an initiative of Members of Parliament and the Administrator of the DACF and not the government or presidency”.
They said “it was financed with the outstanding arrears in government releases to the DACF, which the MPs urged to be utilized for the acquisition”.
By Kweku Antwi-Otoo
