Vice-President Bawumia during the sod-cutting at Nungua
Residents of Nungua in Accra jubilated last Friday when Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia cut the sod for work to commence on the Accra-Tema beach road expansion project.
The project, which is being undertaken by Messrs. Gansu International Corporation for Economic and Technical Cooperation and Messrs. China Major Bridge Engineering Company Limited, is estimated to cost $100 million.
It covers a total of 26.6 kilometres, beginning from the famous Black Star Square (Independence Square) at Osu through La, Teshie, Sakumo and ends up at Tema Community Three and forms part of the Accra Metropolitan Intelligence Traffic Management System project. It is expected to be completed within 24 months.
Portions of the road have been dualized under earlier projects whilst other sections are single carriageways with limited capacity.
It has two major components – the coordination of all the traffic signals in the region and the development of a traffic management centre to manage them to minimize traffic challenges.
The completion of the dualization of the Accra-Tema beach road from the Black Star Square to Tema Community Three is, therefore, expected to ease traffic congestion on the stretch when completed in 2022.
Cutting the sod at Nungua, Vice-President Dr. Bawumia said the Akufo-Addo administration is making strenuous efforts to fix many deplorable roads to accelerate development.
He said the NPP government is currently constructing six major interchanges across the country, and they are at various stages of completion. He mentioned the first phase of the Accra-Tema Motorway Interchange, Pokuase Interchange, Tamale Interchange, Obetsebi-Lamptey Interchange, Nungua Barrier Interchange, and Takoradi PTC Interchange.
He said since 2017 when the NPP took over power, a total of 595 kilometres of roads in urban areas, particularly in Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast and Takoradi, had been asphalted, adding that there were ongoing constructions including 84 kilometres Accra inner city roads and 100 kilometres Kumasi inner city roads which are being funded under the Sinohydro Development Project Agreement, whilst various feeder roads upgrading were underway across the sub-urban areas to boost economic activities and productivity.
He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to keep faith with the Akufo-Addo administration.
The Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, said President Akufo-Addo does not only keep his words but also delivers his promises, with his declaration of the year 2020 as the ‘Year of Roads’ being a clear evidence.
The minister promised that the government would pay appropriate compensation to those who would be affected by the construction works whilst indicating his ministry’s determination to supervise the works to ensure value-for-money.
The Chief of Nungua, Nii Odaifio Wulentsi, could not hide his excitement over the commencement of work on the road, expressing profound gratitude to President Akufo-Addo and his administration.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu