Kwame Governs Agbodza, the Minister for Roads and Highways, has revealed that the Ministry has asked for the hiring of about 1,000 more employees in order to fill staffing gaps and improve the sector’s agencies’ ability to operate.
Speaking before the Select Committee on Economy and Development of Parliament, Mr. Agbodza stated that the Ministry had asked for the hiring of roughly 1,000 more employees in order to solve the increasing staffing shortages in all of its agencies.
Mr. Agbodza claims that the Chief Director of the Ministry made the request in response to mounting demands on current employees and the growing duties of road agencies.
He clarified that the establishment of six additional administrative regions without a matching increase in staff for the organisations in charge of road development and maintenance has made the manpower shortage worse.
Because of this, a number of technical departments are overworked, which has an impact on project monitoring and oversight.
According to Mr. Agbodza, the shortfall is most noticeable among engineers, quality assurance officers, and other technical specialists whose jobs are essential to guaranteeing that road projects are completed effectively and to the necessary standards.
“The staffing level of the agencies is far less than what it should be. If you consider the fact that we are investing heavily on these projects, part of the reason some of the projects suffer quality assurance is simply because we don’t have enough people to monitor these projects,” he told the committee.
He disclosed that the recruitment of 137 employees for the Ghana Highways Authority, including engineers and quality, safety, and environmental officers, had already received permission.
He did, however, point out that the scope of the problem goes beyond a particular organization.
“We’ve got approval for 137 staff at various level, QSEs, engineers and everything, but that was just for highways. The chief director has since submitted a request for about 1,000, because don’t forget, we created six new regions and didn’t actually staff them with new staff,” he said.
The Minister contended that, particularly at a time when substantial public funds are being allocated to road infrastructure nationwide, insufficient personnel has consequences for project monitoring and quality control.
He proposed that in certain instances, quality assurance issues have been exacerbated by the incapacity to sufficiently monitor initiatives.
The Ministry’s proposal coincides with the government’s ongoing efforts to improve connectivity and boost economic activity through significant road construction and renovation projects.
Sector representatives, however, contend that accomplishing these goals will necessitate having enough personnel to supervise execution and guarantee adherence to technical standards.
The committee was reassured by Mr. Agbodza that efforts are being made to improve the efficiency of Ministry agencies and alleviate the staffing shortages.
He said that increasing staffing numbers will improve overall service delivery, quality control, and project monitoring in the road industry.
Source: newsthemegh.com