The Minister of Roads and Highways, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has urged the contractor working on the Ofankor- Nsawam rehabilitation project to speed up work and asphalt portion of the road by November this year.
That, he explained, was the only way to ease the suffering of commuters from the dust and heavy traffic congestion that has characterised that route since the offset of the project.
“The suffering and complaints of commuters and motorists has come to my attention and urgent measures are needed to address the situation before the Christmas season begins,” he said.
The Minister gave the directive on Thursday after a visit to the project site to acquaint himself with progress of work on the road.
The road, he stated, was an important economic route not only for Ghana, but other landlocked countries, as such, everything possible must be done to allow for the free movement of goods and services along the corridor, adding, “A journey of about 15 minutes from Ofankor to Amasaman now takes over three hours, this must be an issue of concern, that is why urgent measures are needed to solve the problem.”
The 18.1 kilometres $341.48 million project was awarded to Messrs Mariopoma Enterprises Limited in July 2022 with expected completion in July 2024.
But work stalled for 14 months over relocation of utilities and demand for compensation after 100 property owners affected by the project took the matter to courts.
Progress of work done so far is 52 per cent at the time of visit.
The Chief Resident Engineer in charge of the project, Kwabena Bempong, briefing the Minister, stated that the Ghana Water Company has completed the relocation of their pipelines while the Electricity Company of Ghana has completed the relocation of the low tension cables and has begun mounting platforms to relocate the high tension which would be completed within a month.
He indicated that apart from the Nsawam Interchange, which is yet to begin, service lanes to the Railway Bridge is 68 per cent complete, the underpass at Adja Appiah is 75 per cent complete, crash barriers, 50 per cent, the underpass at Pobiman and Medie are about 70 per cent complete.
Mr Bempong said the work on the service lanes, the pavements and the culverts have been done and assured that the Amasaman Interchange would be completed by December.
He appealed to the Minister to intervene and have the court cases addressed quickly in order to complete the project on time.
During the visit, the Ghanaian Times observed that traffic had almost grounded to a halt as motorists had to move at a “Snail Pace from Pokuase to Medie as portions of the double lane had been changed to a single lane to give the contractor the free hand to work.
The project involves the transformation of the two-lane road to 10 lanes from Ofankor to the White House stretch.
An additional two lanes will be added to the dual carriageway with extra two- service lanes for adjoining communities.
BY LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU