Contractor abandons Akwasiase-Asuhyiae road project

Manfo (Ash), Feb 13, GNA - Galant Limited, a road contractor executing the 24-kilometre Akwasiase-Asuhyiae road in the Ahafo-Ano North district at the cost of five billion cedis, has abandoned the project.

The project, which was being funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom, involved the tarring of 2.7-kilometre stretch of the road linking the Akwasiase, Manfo, Dwaaho and Asuhyiae townships and the gravelling of the rest of the road.

Nana Kwame Owusu Ntim, Omanhene of the Manfo traditional expressed concern about the abandonment of the project, saying the road as it stood now posed a danger to motorists and the public.

He therefore appealed to the government to take appropriate steps to take the necessary action to ensure that the project was completed. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Manfo on Saturday, Nana Ntim said the project was awarded to the contractor in January 2005 and was scheduled to be completed by December 2005.

He said the contractor abandoned work in May the same year without any explanation, leaving drains uncovered and heaps of sand in the streets of Manfo, Akwasiase and Dwaaho.

When the GNA contacted Mr Geoffrey Kojo Klu of OWA Consult, project consultants, he confirmed the story and said the contract had been terminated pending the assessment and payment of work done by the contractor before re-awarding it.