The Metropolitan Chief Executive of Tamale, Hon Sule Salifu, last Friday (May 10, 2024) inspected some ongoing inner-city road projects in Changli and Dohinayili communities.
The MCE was accompanied by officials of the Department of Urban Roads in the northern region to monitor and obtain firsthand information about the progress of work which is being funded by the government of Ghana.
The projects Manager, Yahaya Mahama, said the project is about 3.5kilometers which consists of filling works, road structure, paving (that is primary ceiling and ceil) and drainage facilities. He added the construction is supposed to be done within eighteen (18) months.
“We started in January 2024 and we are about 65 percent complete. Within about four months, you can see the extent of work done – about 65%; that gives you a rough idea that the contractor is way ahead of time” he stated.
“But for the challenges in the water lines passing through the road center and electricity poles that had to be relocated and those delays associated with the relocation, I’m sure by now we would’ve been hitting 80% but so far so good, the consultant has liaise with the utility providers and we’re getting a headway and hopefully any moment from now all the challenges concerning utility lines would be addressed and we can speed up to a successful completion” Mr. Mahama assured.
For his part, the Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive expressed satisfaction about the progress of work done by the contractor, adding, “You can see that the drains are well constructed and the gravel well compacted”.
Sule Salifu noted a meeting would be held soon with the Ghana Water Limited, the contractor and authorities of the metro assembly to address the issue of broken pipelines in order to ensure water supply to residents of the affected communities.
“It is our intention as a government to provide portable drinking water to every community and in fact that of Changli and Dohinayili should not be exempted. I have called the Regional Manager of Ghana Water Company [who is out of town but will back on Tuesday] so that we can have a joint meeting with the contractor, urban roads, assemble men and representatives of the chief palaces so that we can iron out the rough edges and make sure the people are provided with water as soon as possible.”
“There is another matter in court that is blocking the contractor from furthering his work and I think that we would have a team to mediate to see how we can reach a consensus so that the contractor can have a smooth way to continue with the drainage system” the Mayor stated.