By Hafsa Obeng
Accra, Aug. 22, GNA – The Ghana Youth Leadership Academy (GYLA), a youth empowerment advocacy group, has urged the government to expedite the completion of all outstanding public infrastructure projects.
It said the government must keep its commitments to the people of Ghana by completing all abandoned projects and restore hope in the communities that have been left behind.
Ms Dorcas Antwi, a Fellow of GYLA, told a press conference in Accra on Wednesday that the time had come to hold those in power accountable and ensure every initiative started is completed.
She said that those abandoned projects were meant to provide essential services like health care, education, and housing, but have instead become symbols of wasted resources and lost opportunities for national development.
Ms Antwi said that Ghana, like many other Sub-Saharan African countries, has major infrastructure deficits across various sectors, emphasizing the critical need for long-term infrastructure development that serves the population’s real needs.
“Unfortunately, the desperate push to develop infrastructure has led to the completion of projects that are often misaligned with the actual needs of the communities they are intended to serve. Many of these projects, built as status symbols without proper planning, are abandoned shortly after completion, if not before,” she said.
Ms Antwi also noted that abandoned projects caused significant environmental concerns, economic losses, and a decline in the socioeconomic growth of the areas affected.
Some of the country’s abandoned public projects include 12-unit classroom blocks at Lashibi TMA School and Klagon TMA School, the Sunyani Regional Library, the Sunyani Kotokrom and Odumase roads, the Sunyani Technical University Science Park Building, the Jaman South E-Block project, and the Krofrom market.
Other projects include the Paga-Sirigu road, the Zuarungu meat factory, the Yendi water project, the Pwalugu multipurpose dam, the Bongo District Assembly building, the Sunyani Kotokrom/Yahima road, the Sunyani West Odumase roads, the Oborpah E block, the Sekesua E block, and the SOA primary computer laboratory.
Ms Antwi noted that as concerned citizens, the widespread abandonment of public infrastructure projects has caused them and others around the country pain, frustration, and dissatisfaction.
“These projects meant to be beacons of progress and symbols of hope, have instead become painful reminders of unfulfilled promises. Schools that should be nurturing the minds of future leaders lie in ruins.
“Health centres that should be providing lifesaving care are overgrown with weeds. Roads that should connect communities remain impassable, leaving people isolated,” she said.
Ms Antwi said the economic impacts were equally devastating as those projects represented billions of cedis that could have been used to create jobs, build more schools, or improve healthcare.
She asked Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies to put people’s needs before political expediency, and she urged traditional and religious leaders to use their influence to fight for the completion of these projects, as well as the youth to hold officials accountable.
Ms Antwi also urged the media to keep the issue in the public view by highlighting the suffering communities and abandoned projects.
“We must advocate for better planning, transparency, and the involvement of communities in decision making processes, and commit to making this a national conversation that would lead to real change,” she emphasised.
Madam Adel E.S Acquah, Programme Manager of GYLA, stated that the Academy is an initiative aimed at empowering young leaders across the country.
She explained that GYLA, which has 40 fellows spread over eight advocacy groups countrywide, is designed to encourage youth leadership, community engagement, and social activism.
Madam Acquah remarked that the Academy’s primary goal is to educate future leaders who are not just qualified to lead but also passionate about driving sustainable development in their communities.
“Through our Social Advocacy Projects, GYLA engages young leaders in tackling pressing national issues.”
GNA