Kennedy Osei Nyarko
GOVERNMENT HAS awarded eight separate contracts to local contractors for the construction of four bypasses on the Accra-Kumasi highway.
This is to cut congestion and improve safety, Chairman of the Roads and Transport Committee of Parliament, Kennedy Osei Nyarko, has announced.
According to him, the construction of the new bypasses, which will begin in April this year, will be undertaken by eight local contractors at Osino, Anyinam, and Enyiresi in the Eastern Region; as well as Konongo in the Ashanti Region, as part of efforts to make the highway a dual carriageway. These will cost the nation GHȼ2 billion.
Speaking at a press briefing in Parliament, Mr. Nyarko, who is also the NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Akim Swedru, said the bypass at the Konongo section of the road, spanning 13.5km, would be undertaken by Kofi Job Company Limited and Joshob Construction Limited.
He disclosed that the Enyiresi bypass, 10.5km long, would be constructed by Resources Access Limited and Memphis Metropolitan Limited, while the Anyinam bypass, which is about 6.1km, would be constructed by Nak Limited and Hedrick Construction Limited,
He added that the Osino section, about 11.6km, would be undertaken by First Sky Limited and Justmoh Construction Limited, beginning from the Apedwa portion of the highway, revealing that the construction would be fully funded by the Government of Ghana.
He said the new bypasses are expected to be delivered on budget and within time scale, and will make Osino, Anyinam, Enyiresi, and Konongo far safer as thousands of cars and lorries will no longer need to travel through the centre of the communities.
Mr. Nyarko indicated that all the contractors are well resourced and were carefully selected for the execution of the project which is in line with the dualisation of the nation’s roads being undertaken by the Akufo-Addo government.
“The Government has taken this decision as a result of the numerous accidents on our roads, especially the Accra-Kumasi road and the traffic congestion that goes on that route. It has decided to use these four bypasses to dualise that road to ease access for commuters on the road,” he noted.
For him, the project is a major intervention by the government, saying, “It is going to cost the Ghanaian tax payer GHȼ2 billion for this project to go on. The dual carriage would ease transportation challenges.”
The MP said former President John Agyekum Kufuor commenced the dualisation of the Accra-Kumasi highway, and undertook the Nkwawkaw bypass to ease traffic on the road.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House