Finance Committee of Parliament has today January 26, 2022 approved a commercial and credit facility agreement to design and construct Adawso-Ekye Amanfrom Bridge and Associated roads in the Afram Plains of the Eastern Region.
The 3 Kilometre Bridge, the fifth-longest in Africa when completed, will have two lanes with a walkway and a service lane.
This is a game-changer for us in Kwahu as it will big boost to tourism and agriculture within the greater Kwahu enclave, MP for Mpraeso, Davis Opoku Ansah posted on Facebook.
Travelling to Kwahu Afram Plains in the Eastern Region is stressful and full of anxiety, according to residents of the area.
Apart from the long-distance motorists need to cover, missing the only ferry working on the 3km stretch Afram River is a doom for passengers as they could be stranded for four hours since the pontoon works twice in a day.
The situation is worse when passengers try to travel by road as they have to endure excruciating journey on the poor road network from Enkye Amanfrom to ‘Tease’ through to Donkorkrom.
Deadly and more worrying is the notorious highway robbers terrorizing residents particularly during market days.
Afram Plains consists of two Districts—Afram Plains South and Afram Plains North with ‘Tease’ and Donkokrom as the district capitals respectively. These districts cover a total of 5,436 square kilometres of the landmass.
There are two main entrances into the Afram Plains area—by road through Nkawkaw-Mpraeso-Bepong-Kwahu Tafo and Adawso from where the three-kilometre wide Afram River is crossed to Ekye-Amanfrom by a ferry operated by the Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC).
The second entrance is through Agogo in the Sekyere Afram Plains in the Ashanti region where one can travel by road through Dome to Maame Krobo then to Tease, the District capital.
The Volta Lake Transport Company provides ferry services on the Lake and currently operates one ferry in the Kwahu Afram Plains South between Adawso and Ekye-Amanfrom. The ferry service has a capacity of 360 tonnes per trip.
Currently, the ferry operates on a single engine hence takes about 30 minutes to cross. The peak periods in its services are during the yam and maize harvesting period September – March; when up to six trips could be undertaken.
Already, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Afram Plains North, Samuel Ohene Kena, has expressed optimism that the construction of the bridge will boost agriculture and turn the fortunes of the local economy.
According to him, “It was a campaign promise and the government has started work. I am aware that feasibility study is being done. The experts were here to take the soil samples so I am hopeful the bridge will be constructed. It will open up the place and boost the local economy.”
By Vincent Kubi