Reconstruction of Sunyani-Hamile road corridor to start July
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwame Agbodza, has announced that the reconstruction of the Sunyani-Techiman-Wenchi-Wa-Hamle road corridor will begin in the third quarter of this year as part of the government’s “Big Push” initiative.
He has consequently directed the Ghana Highways Authority to conduct engineering studies and designs for sections of the corridor that are currently not under construction in preparation for the reconstruction work.
Speaking in Sunyani yesterday at the start of a three-day inspection tour of road infrastructure across four regions, Mr Agbodza stated that the project was of prime importance to the government.
“This entire corridor, all the way to Hamile, is part of the ‘Big Push’ initiative. It is one of the ‘Big Push’ projects we aim to award in June this year. Therefore, those involved in the studies and designs need to expedite their work. We don’t have enough time,” he said.
The Roads and Highways Minister’s inspection tour will cover the Bono, Bono East, Ahafo and Western regions.
The governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) advanced the “Big Push” initiative as part of its election manifesto document, listing it as the base of a proposed national infrastructure development drive.
Mr Agbodza indicated that the government was aware of the socio-economic importance of roads towards national development, for which reason road infrastructure development was being prioritised in spite of the financial constraints confronting the national budget currently.
“No matter what we want to achieve — whether in farming, education or healthcare — roads are critical,” he said.
“Our economic development cannot take shape if we do not address the challenges in the road sector,” the minister added.
During the current tour, Mr Agbodza is also expected to inspect several other road projects, including the reconstruction of the Jinijini-Sampa road in the Bono Region; the road from Tepa in Ahafo Ano North Municipality in the Ashanti Region to Goaso in the Ahafo Region; the town roads in Sefwi Wiawso, the reconstruction of the Tarkwa-Agona Nkwanta road, the PTC Interchange project in Takoradi, and the dualisation of the Takoradi-Agona Junction road, all in the Western Region.
