Work begins on 36km Nobekaw-Sankore-Buako road

Kwapong (B/A), May 4, GNA - Dr Richard Anane, Minister of Roads and Highways on Tuesday cut the sod at Kwapong in Brong Ahafo for surfacing of the 36-kilometre Nobekaw-Sankore-Buako road to begin. The road links Asunafo district in Brong-Ahafo to Sefwi Wiawso district in the Western Region.

The Minister said the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank was supporting the project, estimated at 22 billion cedis, with a credit facility of 19.8 billion cedis while the Government would bear the remaining 2.2 billion cedis.

Two contractors - Big Aidoo and M/s Vision - will execute the project simultaneously, with the former working on the Nobekwaw-Nyamebekyere stretch, while the latter will be responsible for the Nyamebekyere-Ntonso section, to ensure its completion by September 5, 2005.

Dr Anane said the government in consonance with its commitment to improve the quality of rural life had directed that all heavily trafficked feeder roads should be surface dressed.

"This is to help reduce dust nuisance, preserve the investments made in the roads, reduce vehicle operating cost and to make rural travel more pleasant", he explained.

Dr Anane said the Nobekwaw-Sankore-Buako carried an average daily traffic of 208 vehicles and directly served the population of about 400,000 in the two districts.

The road also serves some of the major cocoa, timber, oil palm and food producing communities and is also the shortest link between two major towns of Buako and Nobekaw in the northern part of Western region and the southern part of Brong Ahafo respectively.

Dr Anane government had allocated substantial money from the gains of the HIPC initiative for the rehabilitation and improvement of feeder roads throughout, beginning with 80 billion cedis to the Department of Feeder Roads last year.

He said 130 billion cedis had been earmarked for the Department this year to enable it to undertake a number of feeder road works. Dr Anane said the government had also obtained a credit facility of 16.5 million Euros (180 billion cedis) from the Dutch government for the construction of 91 bridges nation-wide to facilitate the transportation of agricultural produce to marketing centres.