Govt sourcing for funds to Suhum -Nsawam road

Nsawam, October 27, GNA - Dr Kwasi Akyem Apea-Kubi, Eastern Regional Minister, has said the government was sourcing for funds from its development partners to complete the Suhum-Nsawam section of the Accra-Kumasi Road Project. He said, so far, the feedback th e government had received from the donor partners was positive so the project would definitely be completed.

The Minister, therefore, refuted allegations that the government had abandoned the project because it was initiated by the previous administration. He appealed to motorists and all communities along the road to exercise patience.

Dr Apea-Kubi said this when he inspected the Nsawam-Apedwa section of the road project to assess the progress of work done so far by the contractors.

He said the completion of all portions of the Nsawam-Kumasi Road would facilitate smooth travelling and reduce the number of road accidents vehicular traffic in major towns along the road. The Regional Minster assured the contractors of the government's commitment to see to the early completion of the roads and would, therefore, make money available for them. He appealed to them to ensure that quality work was done to ensure the longer lifespan of the roads. Earlier, Mr Apraku Anane Appiah, Resident Engineer of Comptran Engineering Limited, briefed the Regional Minister at Nsawam where he inspected the 9.3 kilometre Lantei-Kwafokrom Dual Carriage Road Project.

He said what had delayed the early completion of the road was lack of funds from the Government to pay compensation to about 200 individuals whose property were affected. Mr Anane assured that the project would soon be completed to reduce the vehicular traffic in the Nsawam Township. He said so far about 62 per cent of one dual carriage lane had been completed and 80 per cent of the other dual carriage lane had also been completed and that if the Government made money available to the contractor, the entire project would be completed on time. The Minister also inspected the 31 kilometre Kwafokrom-Apedwa section of the road, which was undertaken by China Water and Electric Corporation.

The Regional Minister also inspected the Nkawkaw by-pass dual carriage road project undertaken by Sonitra Construction Limited. Briefing the Regional Minister about progress of work so far, Mr Victor Annan, an engineer of the Ghana Highway Authority, said the road was commenced on August 13, 2006 and was expected to have been completed on August 14 2008.

However, he said, the completion date was revised to October 31, 2011 due to some challenges encountered; adding that, the contractor could still not meet that dead line and that about 86.5 per cent had so far been completed.