Takoradi residents express worry over delayed projects 

Residents in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis have expressed concerns about the stalling of critical government infrastructure projects, which have resulted in congestion and other forms of disorderliness in the central business district (CBD). 

The Western regional premier interchange has stalled since 2022-2023, alongside the iconic central market (Takoradi Market Circle) redevelopment among others, which the residents say have worsened the traffic congestion and dented the calmness of the Twin-City of Sekondi-Takoradi. 

The recent harvesting of the steel scaffolding, among others, by the contractor, Power China Sino-Hydro Construction, have highlighted the fears of residents, who daily have to endure traffic congestion in the CBD.

Safety

The interchange project was started in December 2020 and is expected to be completed in June 2023. However, it has since stalled, meaning there would be a reviewed date of completion. Howbeit, currently, aspects of the construction are a threat to the safety of motorists. 

Next to the interchange is the ceremonial ground –Jubilee Park– which has been converted into a market following the demolition of the central market for reconstruction. As a result, commercial drivers have turned one side into a bus terminal, with trading activities on the streets and in undesignated areas creating serious congestion. 

The Ministry of Roads and Highways has managed to asphalt beneath the interchange, after endless complaints. The asphalted area was meant to ease vehicular traffic, but that has rather become a danger to vehicular movement, as the asphalted roundabout is not well aligned with traffic from the opposite direction. 

The danger is that those entering the interchange from the Market Circle direction towards Kwesimintsim have to dangerously face traffic from opposite directions before entering the uncompleted roundabout. 

The Ministry 

The contractor suspended work in December 2022 due to the government’s debt-restructuring programme. Reacting to news of the contractor moving out of the project site, the ministry said at the time of the suspension in December 2022, the project was 80 per cent complete.

It said, last September, that the contractor requested permission to dismantle the formwork of the three-tier interchange due to safety concerns arising from the theft of scaffolding, rotten wooden formwork and corroded iron rods.

After the successful completion of the Debt Exchange Programme, the ministry said the government, through the Ministry of Finance, is negotiating with each of its partners to get the contractors back on site, and this includes the PTC Interchange project.

Other projects

The government, according to the Head of Public Relations at the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Nasir Ahmed Yartey, has successfully negotiated the resumption of works on the Obetsebi Lamptey Interchange Project Phase II, the Tema-Akosombo Road Project and the Tema-Aflao Road Project.

“We assure the public that the government is committed to completing the PTC Interchange project,” he stated. 

The government, he said, was exploring all funding options available to ensure that the project is completed.

However, residents are of the view that what is happening at the site and what they have heard from the government as a solution are different from what the Ministry of Roads and Highways is saying.  

They said there are no theft issues at the site, adding: “If the government cannot complete the project, they should be bold to tell us, instead of attributing its inability to anything else.”

Residents 

They recalled that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo recently assured that “before I leave office as the President of Ghana, I want to assure you, the chiefs and people of the Western Region, that the stalled PTC Interchange will be completed.”

The President made the commitment during the commissioning of the GNPC Energy House, that the new sector minister would complete the stalled interchange project.

“I want you to know that the new Minister for Roads and Highways, Asenso Boakye, is committed to completing the PTC interchange before I leave office,” he is reported to have said on that occasion.

The current state of the interchange is not the best. The steel and scaffolding that were installed before the abandonment of the project are at the mercy of the weather, forcing the contractor to recover them.

The deck from the base to the flyover is currently overgrown with weeds while the ground, which hitherto was not passable, has been given a temporary asphaltic surface.  

Also, the reconstruction of the Takoradi Market Circle, residents envisage, might not be completed. Traders in the temporary markets at the Jubilee Park and the Port Quarters say they are not in the best of shapes.

Unannounced halt 

The unannounced halt of work on the interchange and the Market Circle redevelopment have become a source of worry to many a resident.

Although the residents want to count on the assurance from the President for the completion of the project, they are not sure if that will happen because it is just a few weeks before the elections.

A resident, Albert Kwofi, said time is running out and if care is not taken, the congestion will even become worse during the election, as well as the Christmas festivities.

He called for urgent action to be taken, asking that the police service should position some men at the project site until it is completed. “As it is now, it is dangerous,” he said.