The Minister of Roads and Highway, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta has inspected the construction of some major and linking road projects ongoing in the northern region as the Akufo-Addo government has declared 2020 as the year of roads.
He inspected works on the 71-kilometer Salaga –Bimbila road, Tamale–Salaga, Kpandai–Ekumdite–Salaga and the Binjai–Fufulso stretch among others during a working visit to some projects in northern Ghana.
According to the minister, there is a total of 65 separate road networks at various levels of completion across the Northern region.
This, Mr Amoako-Atta pointed out, takes road projects including constructions under the periodic and development aspect of road construction currently in the area to a total of 916 kilometres.
He disclosed this to Journalists in Tamale during a media briefing.
The Minister stated that some 66-kilometres of construction works have been done in the Tamale metropolis and the two adjoining municipalities in the since 2017.
He said all road projects being done are evidence-based, stressing that, “I won’t come to sit down here and talk about road infrastructure without providing evidence and this is prima facie evidence.”
Mr Amoako-Atta said contractors for the 65 projects are currently on site.
He gave the assurance that the government is doing everything possible to keep them on site to ensure the roads are delivered.
The minister believes this will not only benefit commuters in the north but will improve the economic development of the country.
Road infrastructure, according to him, is so important to President Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP led administration because, “There is no doubt that if you want development across the nation, open up the country and the country can only be opened up by improving on the road infrastructure.”
He added that this is important because road transportation constitutes almost 98 percent of all forms of transportation in Ghana.
The has therefore reaffirmed government’s commitment to reduce the huge number of deplorable road network of the country, stating that, “road construction is an ongoing process
Value for money
Mr. Amoako-Atta who doubles as the lawmaker for Atiwa West constituency in the Eastern Region during the tour warned contractors to avoid substandard work.
He said the government under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will not tolerate any shoddy work and threaten to terminate the contracts of underperforming contractors.
The minister also commended contractors who are hardworking and determined to execute the projects on time.
Tamale interchange project
The Roads and Highways Minister also visited the ongoing Tamale interchange project which is funded under the $2 billion China Synohydro agreement.
Mr. Amoako-Atta after interacting with engineers of the project expressed his excitement about the progress of work so far.
He revealed the project is about 40 percent complete and was hopeful that the contractors will be able to meet stipulated 24 months’ timeline for the completion of the entire program.
Meanwhile, the civil engineer working on the project, Mr. Emmanuel Dogbege said more equipment has arrived to accelerate the flow of work.
He anticipated that by the middle of July this year the construction of the pillars should have been done before commencement on the construction of the superstructure.
