Complete Kwafokrom–Apedwa road before Christmas, if it means working in night – Roads Minister order contractors

Kwasi Amoako-Attah, the Minister of Roads and Highways, has asked contractors working on the dualisation of the Kwafokrom–Apedwa section of the Accra-Kumasi Highway to double their efforts and open the road to traffic by Christmas.

During an inspection of the 31.7 km road, Mr Amoako-Attah instructed the contractors to "work day and night" and complete it by the end of the year.

He issued the directive after the Resident Engineer for the project, Mr Apraku Anane-Appiah, had briefed him and said they had completed about 55 per cent of the project and that the entire project would be completed by March next year.

“I'm impressed by your work so far, but I want to challenge the Company to open this road to traffic before Christmas, even if it will mean working in the night too. I want all contractors working on our trunk roads to double up their efforts,” he said.

He said the Government was making efforts to release funds promptly for the contractor to execute the project without delay and hopeful it would be fixed by next month.

Work on the Kwafokrom–Apedwa project, which commenced in October 2018, is scheduled to be completed in 24 months by the China International Water and Electric Corporation.

During the inspection, the GNA observed that the project had reached asphalting stage and was progressing steadily.

Mr Amoako-Attah said a surge in road fatalities called for the dualisation of all trunk roads in the country.

He said the dualisation of the Accra-Kumasi Highway was a major priority of Government and assured that by next week, the Ministry would commence procurement processes to select contractors to commence work on the remaining stretches that were yet to be dualised.

“The Accra-Kumasi road should be done before 2024. We are aiming at dualising the first 17 km on the Tema-Aflao road as well as Tema to Akosombo. We are also working hard to dualise Accra to Cape Coast and we are finalising arrangements with the contractors,” he said.

Mr Amoako-Attah also visited the site of the Maripoma Enterprise Limited, the Company working on the Ofankor-Nsawam stretch of the Accra-Kumasi Highway.

He said the Company would convert the Ofankor-Nsawam stretch into 10 lanes as well as build five interchanges to enhance traffic flow.

He said he had charged the contractor to first repair the damaged portions of the road before starting the major work.

Mr Amoako-Attah said the Government was embarking on an “ambitious plan” to build 11,000 km of road between now and 2024, out of which 6,000 km would be fully completed by that time.

He, therefore, appealed to the public to exercise restraint and support efforts by Government to improve road network across the country.

GNA