The National Coordinator of the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, has expressed concern over the poor maintenance of heavy-duty construction equipment in the custody of the local assemblies and the absence of suitable infrastructure to shelter them.
“Many of the machines are left under the sun and rain without any protection. I urge the assemblies to construct sheds to preserve these national assets urgently.
“Every piece of equipment must be cleaned and properly maintained,” the DRIP National Coordinator who is a former Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, said.
Mr Vanderpuye expressed the concern when he and officials of J.A. Plant Pool Ghana Ltd, a major supplier of heavy-duty equipment in the country, commenced a nationwide inspection of the heavy-duty equipment to ensure their operational readiness ahead of the programme’s 2025 rollout.
The inspection tour covered the Obuasi East and Obuasi West municipal assemblies in the Ashanti Region, where the coordinator urged DRIP coordinators and machine operators to adopt a renewed sense of responsibility and pride in managing government investments.
Significance
The ongoing inspection forms part of DRIP’s broader strategy to ensure accountability, efficiency and sustainability in its operations.
The DRIP initiative, which utilises locally assembled construction machinery, is a flagship government intervention to improve road infrastructure at the district level.
The inspection tour will continue in other regions over the coming weeks as preparations intensify for a successful execution of 2025’s programme of work.
Mr Vanderpuye, who is the immediate past Member of Parliament for Odododiodoo in the Greater Accra Region, was accompanied on the tour by the Deputy Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Samuel Aboagye, and the Ashanti Regional Liaison Officer of J.A. Plant Pool Ghana Ltd, Ebenezer Danquah.
Background
DRIP is an initiative launched under the previous administration to enhance the country’s road network by decentralising road infrastructure development and addressing challenges facing metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) across the country.
It was designed to empower MMDAs with the resources and equipment necessary to rehabilitate and maintain roads within their various jurisdictions and to effect meaningful changes.
As part of the initiative, 2,240 units of road equipment, including motor graders, backhoes, rollers, wheel loaders, bulldozers, water tankers, concrete mixers, tipper trucks, low beds and other essential machinery, were commissioned to be distributed to all the 261 MMDAs.
They were acquired through a collaboration between the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) and the then Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development.
They were to assist local assemblies to carry out essential maintenance tasks such as grading, gravelling, minor road improvements and construction of drainage systems to improve access to social services.
The implementation of the project was to be overseen by a four-member committee in each assembly comprising a technical officer from the Local Government Ministry, Ministry of Roads and Highways, 48 Engineers Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) under the chairmanship of the chief executives of the assemblies.
The mandate of the implementation committees was to ensure the highest standard of quality and accountability in the execution of road projects in their respective areas.
The implementation of DRIP was expected to create jobs for about 10,000 local engineers and artisans.
