By Dennis Peprah
Sunyani, Oct. 26, GNA-The Bono Regional Coordinating Council (BRCC) has mapped up strategies to monitor and control the over-loading of heavy-duty trucks on the Sunyani-Techiman highway and other busy roads in the region.
Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister who announced this regretted that over-loading of lumber and other goods in heavy-duty vehicles was worsening the deplorable condition of the roads.
Speaking at an emergency stakeholder meeting in Sunyani, the Regional Minister said soon the BRCC would mount ‘height measuring check points on the highways, arrest and prosecute, particularly heavy-duty truck drivers who disregarded the road safety regulation.
In that regard, Mad Owusu-Banahene explained the Coordinating Council had set up a committee and would procure height measuring sticks and devices for them to conduct the exercise.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ghana Highway Authority, Urban Roads Department, Timber Contractors Association, Tipper Truck Drivers Association, Security Services and Transport Unions.
Mad. Owusu-Banahene, therefore, cautioned drivers to ensure that their vehicles were not over-loaded and not be found culpable, saying “allowable height and breadth of vehicles are 4.5 and 3.5 metres respectively.”
She stressed the RCC’s commitment to facilitate and ensure that road networks in the region were put into decent shape, to control road crashes and fatalities as well.
The Regional Minister said the government had awarded a contract for the reshaping of the Kobedi-Chiraa portion on the Sunyani-Techiman stretch and called on PMC Africa Ltd, the contractor to speed up work.
“The contractor has assured us he is just waiting for the rains to subside to begin work”. Mad. Owusu-Banahene stated and therefore appealed to road users and communities along the stretch to remain calm.
She said Sames Construction Limited was also working on the New-Dormaa-Kotokrom-Yawhima section of the road, saying “the contractor is working progressively and soon the people would see the asphalt.
“In fact, he just left the site because of the rains, and as we are speaking now, he is preparing to resume work,” the Regional Minister added.
Mrs Victoria Afriyie-Darkwa, the Bono Regional Traffic and Development Engineer of the Urban Roads Department commended the RCC for ensuring that major highways in the region remained motorable, saying “this is our mandate, and we would continue to support the RCC to achieve the mandate.”
She gave the assurance that her department would continue to monitor road contractors against shoddy works to improve the road networks in the region.
GNA