China supports construction of new Ministry of Defence

Accra, April 25, GNA - A new building for the Ministry of Defence valued at nine million dollars is to be put up at Burma Camp with assistance of the Chinese government to facilitate operations at the Ministry.

The Chinese Government is providing a grant of 7.25 million dollars while the Ghana government would provide 1.75 million dollars.

Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Minister of Defence, said this when he received a seven-member delegation from the Bejing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD) to discuss the design of and contract for the new building.

Dr Addo-Kufuor said the support of the Chinese government was the result of a promise made by the Chinese Minister of Defence to support the Ministry to put up a new complex when he paid a visit of China last year.

He said the Ministry had accepted two architectural drawings from BIAD for approval by the Armed Forces Council and "if everything goes on well the project will take off early October this year".

He said the Ghana Government initially requested three million dollars support from the Chinese government for the building but the Chinese decided to take up about 95 per cent of the total cost of the project.

He thanked the Chinese government for their immense support for the Ministry.

Mr Zhang Jijuu, Vice President at Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, said the Chinese government selected their Institute because of the level of importance it attached to the project. He said the building would go a long way to enhance the friendship between the Chinese and Ghana governments.