Director for Department of Feeder Roads under the Ministry of Roads and Highways Mr. Roosevelt Odai Otoo has retired.
Mr. Otoo until his retirement had risen through the department from the very bottom serving in different parts of the country.
Mr. Otoo who started as Assistant Engineer in Koforidua also became Deputy Staff Engineer in charge of Labour-Based Projects in November, 1992. In 1994, he was assigned the position of a Project Engineer in charge of Maintenance Performance Budgeting System (MPBS) Pilot Project in Koforidua and finally became the Project Engineer for Eastern Region when the concept was being replicated in the other Regions.
He also worked in the Upper West Region where he started as a Deputy Regional Manager and became Regional Manager.
Mr. Otoo was awarded as best head of department by former Upper West Regional Minister Sahanun Mogtari in 2002.
Mr. Otoo’s work brought him to Greater Accra where he served as regional manager as well as to the Volta Region.
He later returned to the headquarters of department of feeder roads where he’s now retiring as director.
Achievements
Mr. Roosevelt Odai Otoo is credited with the innovation of the now popular U-culvert adopted by DFR in 2003 and also currently being used by Ghana Highway Authority and the Department of Urban Roads on some of their projects.
According to records the innovation was first named after him when it first came out; “Otoo’s Culvert”.
He however compelled to get the name changed to “U-Culvert” after he started making enemies from the engineering fraternity in his department therefore was later changed to be known as “U-culvert”.
“My innovation came out first with single 700mm x 900mm U-culvert. After the adoption the Department, with the help of some officials of DFID, it was expanded into different sizes such as single, double and triple 900mmx1250mm, 1250mmx1800mm, 1800mmx1800mm, etc.
Hitherto, we had only pipe and box culverts in the system.” He stated in his CV copied Starr News.
Mr. Otoo trained engineers at the Koforidua Training Centre (KTC) in road maintenance and construction activities.
As Director of feeder roads department Mr. Otoo is credited with the institution of a clear channel of communication which made room for bottom-up engagements. This enabled the staff of the department in all the 16 regions to be heard directly.
Mr. Otoo is also credited for ensuring unity among staff of the department since all grievances could be channeled all the way to the top without any hindrance.
He also championed the deployment of technology in the work of the department.
Finally, Mr. Otoo is credited with the ability to ensure harmony by the department and contractors even in the face of serious challenges as well as financial constraints.
In his final interaction with staff, the retiring Director of department of feeder roads stated his exit does not mean an end to his service to mother Ghana. According to him, he would still help in building the sector he so much cherish in diverse ways.
Mr. Roosevelt Odai Otoo is currently the National President of the Ghanata Senior High School Old Students Association and board chairman for the Ghanata Senior High School. He is also the Building Committee Chairman in Assemblies of God Church. A position he has held for over 12 years.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5 Fm
