Economic Impact of Labour-Based Constructions for Road Works in Ghana: Case study of Asankare and Dampong

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2016-02-29
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The labour based Technology approach in road construction has been in existence since 1986 and responsible for (1) improving rural accessibility, (2) increasing the construction capacity, and (3) Creating rural employment. This method of road construction has faced a lot of challenges over the years. This research sought to identify the economic impact and the associated challenges of labour based road construction works on the standard of living of the people in Ghana. Three sets of questionnaires were designed and administered to Clients (technical staff of the Department of Feeder Roads in Ashanti Region), Staff of the Construction Company and members of the beneficiary communities who worked on the project. These questionnaires sought the impact of labour base technology on the Asankare and Dampong communities which were used as case studies. Descriptive statistics and Relative Importance Index were used to analyse and quantify the extent of the identified impacts and challenges of LBT for road construction as perceived by the respective stakeholders. Stakeholders believed that indeed more human capacity was engaged in the LBT and thereby cost less expensive to adopt this technology in road construction. The results again showed that all the sixteen identified impacts of LBT in road construction had an effect on the standard of living in the communities. Rural employment generation was the most prevalent identified impacts. According to the stakeholders though generation of rural employment is prevalent it has not been sustainable enough to support the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy. The least impact being the sense of local ownership of the road and access to potable drinking water during the project implementation. Ten (10) factors were also considered in the assessment of the challenges of LBT for road construction , delayed payments, which has been a major setback in the road construction sector is the most prevalent challenge which must be addressed seriously by the road ministry. Lack of efficient tools is the least challenge of LBT for road construction because most of the tools are locally manufactured and they believe it is not a challenge in Ghana.
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A Dissertation submitted to Department of Building Technology, College of Art and Built Environment in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Construction Management.
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