Impact of road construction on environment in Ghana a case study of Kintampo municipal

Abstract

There is a growing awareness that road development has major environmental impact. The damage includes sensitive ecosystems, loss of productive agricultural lands, and resettlement of large numbers of people, permanent disruption of local economic activities, demographic change, accelerated urbanization, and introduction of disease. This dissertation presents the impact of road construction on the environment in the Kintampo Municipality of Ghana and the challenges the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) faces in the enforcement of environmental mitigation measures. The researcher reached the goals of this research through a questionnaire and interview with 17 respondents and 2 participants respectively. The response rate was (85%) percent. The respondents are selected personnel from public institutions and road construction firms who are directly involved in road operations in the Kintampo Municipality and field observation from January to June 2016. The participants were the municipal officers and national service personnel from EPA. The Likert scale was used to rank the various environmental impacts. The data fed into computer was then analyzed using the Statistical Programme for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 21.0 and spreadsheet (Excel of Microsoft Office 2013). This study identified that useful mitigation measures for controlling noise and ground movement were poorly manage hence the accidents on the road. In conclusion, the gross of environmental impacts associated with road construction projects identified in this research such as accident, noise and ground movement and air pollution can assist road project managers and contractors to identify the most critical environmental impacts during road construction operations. It is therefore recommended that issues of pollution prevention be a priority to the Government and hence allocate more resources should be allocated to the EPA to intensify its monitoring duties.