Kufuor address nation on Tuesday

President John Agyekum Kufuor would be in Parliament on Tuesday, January 31, to give an address on the state of the nation. Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, said this last Friday when he presented the business statement of the house for next week. He said the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill would also be taken through a second reading. Mr Adjapong said the report of the Public Accounts Committee on the provision and management of government bungalows would be considered. Later during question time, Dr Richard Anane, Road Transport Minister, said there was the need to reconstruct the single-lane bridge on River Tano-Nsawora in the Western Region into a two-lane bridge. He said the bridge was on the highway and traffic volume on it was high and therefore the need to open up.
Dr Anane said the reconstruction would be considered under the Bridge Development Programme and the "project preparation will start in June." The Minister was responding to a question from Mr Herod Cobbina, NDC-Sefwi Akontombra on when the bridge would be reconstructed. He said the bridge, which is on the Sefwi Wiawso-Akontombra road at Nsawora, was damaged when an articulated truck run into the side rail in July last year and fell into the river. Dr Anane said the damaged section would be repaired this year under the "bridge periodic maintenance programme of the Ghana Highway Authority."
Responding to another question from Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, NDC Ningo Prampram, on when the Old Ningo Town as well as the Ningo-Dawa road would be completed, the Minister said the road had been awarded on contract in two phases. He said phase one was awarded for surfacing in August 2004 at a contract sum of over three billion cedis for completion in August last year.
He said the project was being executed by M/S Modern Ghana Builders Limited and the percentage of work completed to date was seven percent. "The work is far behind schedule and the regional engineer has initiated action to get the contract terminated for re-award by the Regional Tender Review Board."