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Regional Minister inspects on-going projects at Ashaiman, Tema

By GNA
Regional Minister inspects on-going projects at Ashaiman, Tema
05.06.2011 LISTEN

Ashaiman, June 4, GNA – Nii Armah Ashitey, Greater-Accra Regional Minister, on Friday inspected on-going projects in the Ashaiman Municipality and Tema Metropolis, with a call on contractors to speed up work on the projects.

Nii Ashitey said in as much as the contractors were doing their best to complete their projects, they must speed up in order to meet the deadlines and avoid causing undue inconveniences to residents.

The Minister further charged engineers of districts, municipal and metropolitan assemblies, to have long term plans for implementing projects in their areas.

He said inadequate planning not only lead to delay in the completion of projects, but also increased cost due to inflation and changes in the exchange rates.

He expressed disappointment at the delay in completion of projects in Ashaiman and Tema since it had led to the closure of many roads, which residents were unhappy about.

The Minister also entreated Mr Steven Attipoe, Tema Urban Roads Engineer, who also has oversight responsibility over Ashaiman to meet with authorities of the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA) and the residents to educate them on planned projects for the Municipality.

He explained that due to lack of such communication the people of Ashaiman felt neglected when they compared the number of on-going projects in Tema to their area.

The Regional Minister was accompanied by Mr Fats Nartey, Greater-Accra Regional Co-ordinating Director, Mr Robert Kempes Ofosuware, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive and Numo Addinortey Addison, Ashaiman Municipal Chief Executive.

At Ashiaman, the Minister and his entourage inspected the Jericho and Valco Flats bridges under construction.

The bridge contractors for the World Bank funded Urban Environmental and Sanitation Project (UESP), assured the Minister that the on-going construction works would be completed at the end of June this month.

They agreed that the closure of the Ashaiman-Jericho road and the Valco Flats-Zeenu roads due to the construction was causing a lot of inconvenience to road users.

The contractors also gave the assurance that the drains would be dredged after the completion of the bridge to avoid flooding in the area when it rained.

Nii Ashitey also inspected work on the construction of the Kpone Bridge, which also formed part of the entire project.

The Minister ended his inspection at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) road where pavement blocks were being laid at the sides of the road.

Some workers, especially drivers using the TOR road, expressed their frustrations at the delay and slow pace of work.

GNA

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