The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has disclosed that he would embark on a $10 billion massive infrastructural development with his ‘Big Push’ agenda when voted into office in the upcoming polls.
The former president said this in Accra when he addressed concerns of road contractors on Friday and said, the Big Push agenda would create about one million jobs and employ about 250,000 Ghanaians within four years.
Mr Mahama also stated that the initiative would inject money into infrastructural development, and involve the construction and engineering industry as well as other professionals, and bring many artisans back to work.
Also, the initiative would prioritise Ghanaian companies in every aspect of the projects to be executed and enable “Ghanaians capture the commanding heights of the economy,” he said.
‘It is the big push for infrastructural development for Ghana’s economic transformation,” he said when he addressed some members of the Association of Road Contractors (ASAROC) and the Progressive Road Contractors Association (PROSAC).
In addition, the former president said the initiative would see great improvement in the capacity of people and equipment to spearhead the dualisation of major highways in the country.
“We want to leverage financing, to use the financing to fix our roads and promise that we dualise our main highways, those of you who have the capacity and equipment will participate in the dualisation of the main highways in this country,” he stated.
Former president Mahama noted that he was committed in ensuring that these projects were undertaken by Ghanaian contractors.
He indicated that his government would proceed with projects commenced under his previous administration, thus the building of 200 senior high schools, hospitals, railway systems and bridges.
The former president hinted that he would continue with the “Cocoa Roads” programme to “leverage $200 million a year for five years to fix the roads in cocoa growing regions” under his leadership which has been left unattended to by the current government.
BY FRANCIS NTOW & ABIGAIL ARTHUR
