Forum raises concern about abuse of Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Participants at a day’s public forum on the Road Fund in Sunyani, on Thursday suggested the need for the Government to institute measures to check the abusive consumption of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by drivers.
The participants were unanimous in their view that the trend was defeating the main purpose of promoting the use of the commodity domestically to reduce the over-dependence of charcoal and arrest the rapid deforestation of the country’s forest cover.
The forum proposed the need for Government to set up a body to work out the modalities to differentiate between the uses of LPG for domestic as well as commercial purposes.
The forum was organised by the Road Fund Board on the theme: “Financing Road Maintenance,” for about 200 participants in Brong Ahafo Region.
It was attended by road contractors, municipal and district chief executives, representatives of road transport unions as well as members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Transportation and the Road Fund Board.
The forum among others things aimed at sensitising the public and stakeholders on the role of the Road Fund in the financing of road maintenance and also sought to provide the platform to explain the rationale behind the
The participants pleaded with the government to direct the Ghana Highways Authority to bring the transport unions on board to facilitate the fixing of bad roads to save lives and property.
Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, admitted that road construction and maintenance were capital intensive projects, saying payment of appropriate levies and tolls for the use of roads and uses was imperative to enable the government to generate enough funds to ensure that the sector was improved.
He announced that since the government’s assumption of office for more than two years now, about GH¢166 million had been spent in improving the state of roads in the Region.
The Regional Minister said the Municipal and District Assemblies in the region had also purchased 16 earth-moving machines at a total cost of GH¢3.4 million from their share of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund to support the work of the Departments of Urban and Feeder Roads in improving rural and access roads in their localities.
Source: GNA