Review of Public Administration and Management

Abstract

Public Infrastructure Maintenance Practices in Ghana

Edmund Nana Kwame Nkrumah

This study assessed the maintenance practices and quality improvements of public infrastructure by adopting the National Theatre of Ghana as a case study. This research specifically examined maintenance practices of the National Theatre, a national asset and the biggest auditorium used by the country to host major national events. A single case study design was employed for the study. Both questionnaires and interviews were used to obtain data from sampled staff and management of the National Theatre. The study revealed that the maintenance practices at the theatre are mostly routine involving cleaning, fumigation and servicing. There are also quarterly and annual maintenance schedules, but all these are predictive and preventive maintenance works. The maintenance works at the theatre have also ensured that the National Theatre is serene and habitable in the short term. The maintenance practices also help to maintain the aesthetics and attraction of the theatre in the medium term, and in the long term, maintenance practices can forestall the sudden breakdown of major equipment hence prevented the sudden collapse of the entire facility. However, the study found a gap between maintenance practices and quality maintenance practices at the National Theatre. The theatre has not integrated quality management practices, hence some of the important long-term benefits of maintenance practices have been missed and there is a backlog of maintenance that need to be worked out. Staff of the National theatre are not oblivious to the backlog of maintenance that the facility faced with but suggested that this is a result of inadequate budgetary allocation for maintenance. The study concludes that increasing budgetary appropriation for maintenance, there is a need to improve public cooperation and support for the National Theatre in order to improve the quality of the edifice.