The Minister for Roads and Highways, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has called for a renewed mindset among Ghanaians to enable the country to achieve its development goals.
According to him, development is a shared responsibility which required that the citizens contributed their quota towards achieving the development goals of the country.
“Development, as I always say, is a shared responsibility. Government plays its part, but the individuals must also play their parts,” he said.
“We live in a third world where everybody thinks government should do everything. Of course, government has a role to play, but as citizens, we also have a role to play so that together, we see development as a shared responsibility…for me, development is all about change of mind because even if we bring angels to come and rule and we don’t change our mindset, we will never get anywhere and everybody will continue to blame government,” he stressed.
Mr Asenso-Boakye made the charge when he met with the leaders of the Buz Stop Boys, in his office, in Accra, on Tuesday.
The meeting was to appreciate the work of the Group, encourage them to do more and see how best the Ministry could collaborate with them to keep the country’s drains and city clean.
The Minister also made a personal donation of GH¢10,000 to support the work of the Group and encouraged them to do more.
Mr Asenso-Boakye said, ” one major challenge the country continues to grapple with is perennial flooding, a situation he attributed to choked drains nationwide.”
The work of the Buz Stop Boys, he explained, is therefore crucial in averting such disasters in the near future.
“Having been the Minister for Works and Housing and currently, Minister for Roads, I realised that this little contribution that they are doing has direct bearing on the works that we are doing in terms of provision of infrastructure for our people,” he said.
The Minister assured the Group of the Ministry’s support and collaboration to ensure that the city’s drains were clean and free from debris to allow free flow of water.
Oheneba Kojo Sarfo, Founder and Leader of the Buz Stop Boys, commended the Minister for his kind gesture and appealed for state support to enable the Group to expand their works.
The Buz Stop Boys is a group of young men who focus on cleaning heavily trafficked areas, creating a cleaner and more welcoming environment for both residents and visitors.
By Benjamin Aidoo