25km Takoradi-Agona Nkwanta road ahead of completion date - Contractor tells Roads Minister
Work on the rehabilitation and dualisation of the 25-kilometre Takoradi-Agona Junction road is progressing ahead of the completion timeline.
At 85 per cent complete, the project is billed to end on July 31 this year, far ahead of the original completion schedule on March 19, 2027.
The project, however, stalled along the way due to non-payment of $78 million to the contractor, Justmoh Construction Ltd.
It involves the construction of two dual carriageway bridges and the construction of concrete bridges at Apremdo and Ewusiejoe, as well as new roundabouts along the road corridor.
Absorption
The Project Manager of Justmoh Construction Ltd, Adjei Frimpong, who made this known when the Minister of Roads and Highways, Governs Kwame Agbodza, visited the site last Tuesday, said, “The absorption of this project under the Big Push and the release of $78 million for the project has made a huge difference.
“The project is 85 per cent complete, and we want to finish it by the end of July this year because a lot of progress has been made,” he said.
Mr Agbodza, accompanied by his deputy, Alhassan Suhuyini, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Highways Authority, Mallam Issah Ishak, and the Western Regional Minister, Joseph Nelson, was at the project site to assess the progress of work made so far.
The team also visited other Big Push projects in the Central, Western and Western North regions to have a first-hand insight into how contractors were executing projects.
Mr Frimpong said the Takoradi-Agona Junction road had seen significant progress since the last time the Roads Minister visited the site early this year.
He said other lanes had been added to the road to expand it, and two teams were working at both ends of the road to complete overlays, which were the final stage of the project.
Responding, Mr Agbodza said he was happy that the engineers of the GHA were working very well with the contractor to complete the project ahead of schedule.
He indicated that the reason the project was almost a year ahead was simply that the Takoradi-Apowa road had been made a part of the Big Push projects and payment had been regular.
“The project almost stalled when $78 million was raised as a cumulative false certificate, and not GH¢1 or $1 was paid, and it nearly stalled the project.
“It probably made the contractor bankrupt because that was almost all the facilities they took, and President Mahama decided to let us add this to the Big Push.
So Big Push does make a difference on projects like this,” he said.
Contractor very patriotic
Describing Justmoh Construction as “one of our biggest contractors” in the country, Mr Agbodza said the contractor could not be faulted for the delay of the project because the previous government failed to release money for the work.
“What happened in 2017 should never happen again because the government took over and decided they would not continue anything they did not start.
“President Mahama decided it is still Ghana’s money used for whatever was started earlier and it must be continued,” he said.
The Roads Minister commended the contractor for being patriotic and showing a commitment to executing the project on time.
