Roads and Highways Ministry launches mobile app and call centre for reporting defective roads

The Ministry of Roads and Highways has launched a mobile app and a call centre that will enable citizens to report road defects in their communities for prompt attention.

One major hindrance to travelling across the country is the poor road networks, with potholes on some of the major roads in the country. To facilitate the maintenance of these deteriorating roads, the government has launched the “Maintain My Road” mobile app to ensure that people report these road defects promptly for attention.

The Maintain My Road mobile app is available on both Android and iOS devices and will allow users to upload pictures and descriptions of road defects, and tag the exact locations using GPS to track the status of the reports.

The call centre which will also operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays to Fridays would provide an alternative direct line for those without access to smartphones or internet connectivity to report road defects, hazards and other related issues.

The initiative will be piloted for the next five months and will focus on main trunk roads and urban centres such as Accra-Tema, Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale. the newly launched call centre will be staffed by multilingual persons fluent in English, Twi, Ga, and Ewe, and equipped with a geolocation-enabled dashboard to accurately pinpoint reported issues.

According to the Minister of Roads and Highways, Francis Asenso-Boakye, who launched the initiative, the new system had become necessary to cut costs associated with badly damaged roads in their reconstruction processes in the wake of constraints with the Road Fund.

“The mobile app will enhance public engagement and enable citizens to report road issues and contribute to maintenance efforts directly, ensuring efficient response and timely resolution of issues,” the minister said at the launch in Accra.

“I just want to assure the people that the Accra Kumasi highway will see major maintenance activities that will improve drastically the conditions of the road, as well as the Accra-Tema Motorway,” he added.

Such an initiative is bound to raise the expectations of citizens who have had to deal with these badly maintained roads for years, but the minister cautioned that people should be measured in their expectations since any issues reported may not be rectified immediately as some may need more time to complete.

“I will also caution the public to be moderate in their expectations, especially when the reported maintenance risk is extensive and would require procurement procedures to be satisfied before works are undertaken,” the minister added.

For his part, the Board Chairman of Ghana Highway Authority, I.K. Mensah, called for cooperation with law enforcement agencies such as the police, adding “linking police call centres directly with the app would ensure that issues requiring police intervention are promptly addressed.”

This is a good initiative that will ensure deteriorating roads get fixed, but the concern of many people will be whether issues of road defects reported will be promptly attended to.