•President Mahama in the company of Alhaji Inusah Fuseini and Mr Antwi Bosiako Sekyere (right), the Eastern Regional Minister, inspecting the Suhum portion of the road.

President Mahama inspects work on Apedwa road

Kwame Asare Boadu May - 28 - 2015 , 09:34

The President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, yesterday inspected work on the Kwafokrom-Apedwa road which forms part of the Accra-Kumasi highway and expressed satisfaction with the progress of work so far.

The Kumasi-Accra stretch of the dual carriageway is expected to be completed in October this year.

Last year, the President directed the contractors working on the road to tackle the Kumasi-Accra stretch first to give commuters some respite and work on the Accra-Kumasi stretch later.

Speaking after inspecting work on the project, President Mahama said the government had added five kilometres of Suhum town roads to the project for the people to fully benefit from the project.

History

The 31.7km dual carriageway project is part of the international trunk road which connects Accra through Kumasi to Gonokrom on the Ghana-Côte d'Ivoire border. It also forms part of the road system linking Ghana and Burkina Faso.

The government of Ghana project was awarded to the China International Water and Electric Company on September 26, 2008, while actual work commenced on December 17,the same year.

It was scheduled for completion on March 14, 2012, but that did not materialise because of funding challenges for which reason the deadline was extended to April 30, 2016.

The government has already released funds for the payment of people whose property were affected by the execution of the project.

So far, about 280 out of the estimated 289 affected property owners had been paid their compensation.

President Mahama said the government was sourcing external funding to complete the Kumasi-bound part of the project.

Road investment

Mr Mahama said the government was undertaking the single biggest ever road investment in the history of the country estimated at about $1 billion over a five year period, which started in 2014.

The investment, he said, would include the construction of cocoa roads and mentioned that the Eastern Region would be a major beneficiary of the investment.

He mentioned the Suhum-Asamankese road and the Asamankese town roads as some of the roads that would be given attention in the region.

President Mahama indicated the crucial role good roads played in national development and said even as efforts were being made to fix the power problem, the government would continue to provide good roads across the country.