Nasir Ahmed Yartey, the Public Relations Officer for the Ministry of Roads and Highways, has stated that local authorities, not the Ministry, are responsible for maintaining faulty streetlights.
He cited a 2011 policy document, Section 4, which assigns ownership and maintenance of streetlights to local assemblies where they are located.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Citi FM on Monday, Yartey referenced Section 4 of the policy document to support his statement.
“We have a framework on street lights and I can make reference to the August 2011 policy document. I don’t know whether there has been an update to it but if you go to Section 4 of the document, where it talks about the policy direction when it comes to street lights, it places ownership and responsibility for the maintenance of street lights in the hands of the local authority.”
Mr. Yartey explained that the Ministry only installs streetlights during road construction and then hands over maintenance to local authorities, who collect levies for this purpose. Essentially, the Ministry’s role is limited to initial installation, while local authorities are responsible for ongoing maintenance.
“What happens is that as a Roads Ministry, when we are constructing roads, we provide the infrastructure, and so for example, if you go to Borteyman to School Junction, you will see that we have provided street lights and that is what we do.
“We add the provision of street lights to the road contract but when we are done constructing, the laws place the street lights in the hands of the local authority and that is why they collect levies for street lights.
“So if you are looking for the authority responsible for the maintenance of street lights, it is the local authority.”
Bainamultimedia/ Khadijahtu Kubura Kailani.
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