Tetteh Quarshie-Mallam Road ready Feb 2012

Work on the six-lane, 14-kilometre Tetteh Quarshie-Mallam Highway under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) is expected to be completed in February 2012.

Consequently, all compensation to landlords, tenants, store owners and occupants, as well as table-shop owners, have been paid, paving the way for the smooth execution of the project.

This came to light when a team from the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) paid a working visit to the various sites of the project to acquaint themselves with the pace of work.

Briefing the media during the tour, Mr Bernard Koranteng-Yorke, Transport, Agriculture and Infrastructure Manager of MiDA, said the authority was very much aware that resources for the project would cease coming in February 2012.

He said it was to avoid the situation where there would be no resources for the project that MiDA was working around the clock to avoid any impediments in its way to meeting the deadline for the completion of the project.

He said the only challenge MiDA was grappling with was the increasing number of table-top sellers who had been paid their compensation and drivers who had been going back to areas acquired for the work, especially at Abeka Lapaz.

Mr Koranteng-Yorke noted that because the utmost target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was poverty reduction, MiDA had adopted the policy of diplomacy in dealing with the recalcitrant ones in order not to compound their situation.

He explained that that was also the reason why even table-top sellers, landlords and even tenants living in houses which had been affected had all been compensated.

“We have tolerated them for far too long and it was becoming too expensive for the government” he said, adding that any such delay meant that the government had to pay the contractor $20,000 as penalty each day.

He said all utility lines, such as water, electricity and telephone, had been laid outside the pedestrian walkways along the roads, while minor culverts had also been created beneath the main road to avoid the situation where the utility companies would dig through the main road to lay their lines.

According to the Environmental and Social Impact Director of MiDA, Dr Robert K. Akuamoah, the tact and diplomacy procedure which required explaining and consequently offering compensation to affected persons was the reason why there had not been any confusion.

The approximately 14-km three-lane dual carriageway has been broken into two lots. Lot One extends from the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange to the Apenkwa Interchange. It is 5.5 kms long and is being executed by the China Railway Wuju (Group) Corporation for a contract sum of US$42.1 million. It is scheduled to be completed in June 2011.

Lot Two begins from the Apenkwa Interchange to the Mallam Interchange. It is approximately 8 kms long and is being executed by MSF Construction for a contract sum of US$83.6 million