Kwaku Ofori-Asiamah – Transport Minister
A FOUNDATION stone for the construction of a headquarters for the new Keta Port in the Volta Region will be laid in the fourth quarter of this year.
The Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, who disclosed this in Parliament, said this follows the completion of technical evaluation and financial proposals for feasibility studies on the much-awaited project.
He was responding to a question posed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Keta, Richard Quashigah, who wanted to find out what plans the ministry had to start and complete the project as promised by the President, Nana Akufo-Addo.
“Mr Speaker, it is expected that consulting services for the feasibility studies will start in April 2020,” he said, stressing that the outcome of the feasibility report will determine the infrastructural needs of the project.
He said so far a suitable site at Kedzi in the Keta Municipality had been identified to locate the Port of Keta, adding that the site takes a good development and commercial use of a pre-engineered system of parts of the Keta Lagoon.
According to the minster, President Nana Akufo-Addo has also issued Executive Instrument (E.I.) to declare the area a port zone after appointing a new director for Keta Port, Dr Alexander Adusei Jnr, to coordinate all the activities of the Keta Port Development.
“Mr Speaker, the Ministry of Transport with the Ghana Ports and Habours Authority (GPHA) Board had met with the Paramount Chief and sub-chiefs of the Keta Traditional Area and sensitized them on the upcoming project,” he said
The minister added that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government through the Ministry of Transport was committed to executing the Keta Port Project to help create jobs and enhance the socioeconomic development of the Volta Region and Ghana as a whole.
“Mr Speaker, it took the visionary leadership of President Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP administration to heed to the call of the chiefs and people of the region and has initiated concrete steps to make this laudable dream a reality,” the minister said.
Thomas Fosu Jnr