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General News of Thursday, 14 February 2008

Source: GNA

Kufuor: Road sector witnessing incredible dev\t

Accra, Feb. 14, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday said the roads sector in particular was witnessing an incredible level of development to the extent that every region and district could boast of completed and on-going roads of all grades, especially those linking farm gates to market centres.
"The difference is that specifications of the major trunk and arterial roads are much improved than even before," President Kufuor said in his last State of the Nation address to Parliament.
He said the strategic importance of cocoa was acknowledged through the Cocoa Roads Improvement Project (CRIP), and this year 100 million dollars had been released to tar or surface-dress some selected roads in six selected cocoa growing areas. President Kufuor said all arterial roads from Accra to the neighbouring countries of Togo, Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso were undergoing reconstruction. "Work is on-going in various Metropolises, Municipalities, and district capitals to reduce traffic congestion, improve public transportation and support economic activities. Accra is a typical example of these - Nkrumah Circle- Ofankor; Tetteh Quarshie-Aburi; Mallam-Kasoa and all over the country." He said since 2001 over 1,000 kilometres of feeder roads had been surfaced nation-wide, about 4,800 kilometres had undergone rehabilitation, 10,000 kilometres had undergone spot improvement, while 2,300 kilometres had been re-gravelled.
During that same period 84 bridges were built and 500 kilometres of roadside drains had been constructed for all cities. The President, however, expressed concern about the spate of accidents on these improved roads and charged the Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority, the National Road Safety Commission, and the Motor Traffic Unit of the Ghana Police Service to redouble their efforts to ensure that quality of driving improved.