The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has announced that earth-moving equipment procured under the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP) will soon be deployed to construct farm roads across the country.
He said all districts will be provided with fuel to operate the DRIP machines to ensure they are used for their intended purpose.
Speaking to journalists in Kumasi on Sunday, June 15, Mr. Opoku revealed that the government will temporarily halt all major road construction projects in rural areas to make way for the DRIP equipment to be utilized effectively.
“What we intend to do is to provide all districts with the financial resources to fuel the machines and use the available equipment to develop access roads. This will make it easier to transport food from farms to communities without any difficulty,” he said.
The minister further disclosed that some officials were preparing to award new road construction contracts in rural areas, but he intervened to stop them.
“Just last week, some people were preparing to award contracts for the construction of roads in some rural communities. I asked them to stop because we already have the equipment. All we need to do is provide them with fuel and let them go to work,” he added.
SOURCE: Agric Today
