Germany Provides $13m For Accra-Kumasi Road

A grant of 13 million U.S dollars that was promised to the government of Ghana by the Federal Republic of Germany, as its contribution toward the cost of rebuilding the Accra-Kumasi road, is now ready for disbursement.

This was confirmed by the German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr. Peter Linder, when he called yesterday on the Minister for Roads and transport, Dr. Richard Anane in Accra.

Mr. Linder was accompanied by the Counsellor for Development Co-operation in the German Embassy, Ms. Dorothea Groth.

The promise of the grant was made in response to an appeal by President John Agyekum Kufuor during his state visit to Germany in 2002.

The Ambassador said that the Schroeder, restated his country's commitment to give the grant.

The Ambassador said that the Shroeder government had intended originally to include the grant in its foreign assistance budget for next year.

However, the German government had been impressed by the sense of urgency with which its Ghanaian counterpart was executing road construction projects. It had decided, therefore, to expedite the release of the grant so as to give added impetus to Ghana's road development programme.

Mr. Linder, therefore, urged the engineers working on the Accra-Kumasi road to furnish him without delay with the final technical design specifications.

He urged the government to intensify its enforcement of vehicle axle load limits in order o prolong the lifespan of the nation's roads.

Mr. Linder gave the assurance that the German government would continue to co-operate with Ghana in the areas of attracting investment in agro-processing industry, boosting small-and medium-scale enterprises and promoting good governance.

Dr. Anane recounted the record of close co-operation between Ghana and Germany in the area of road construction.

He cited the Tema-Aflao road reconstruction project and the six-lane highway from Kwame Nkrumah Circle to Ofankor, which is a portion of the Accra Kumasi road, as examples of projects that were receiving support from Germany currently.

He thanked the German government for bringing forward its determination to enforce axle load limits, and to apply the funds generated from the Road levy toward the cost of road maintenance