Spintex-Airport link road completion date unknown

Motorist must brace themselves for continuous delay in the completion of the Spintex Dualisation Project (Spintex-Airport Link) following the government's slackness in the provision of funds for the completion of the 2.8- kilometre road.

The project, funded by the Government of Ghana and being executed by M/S Ussuya Ghana Limited, began in April 2011 and was scheduled to have been completed in June 2012, but almost a year down the line work has stalled due to financial constraints.

The 2.8-kilometre dual carriageway is expected to ease traffic on the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange by diverting vehicular traffic from the Airport area to Spintex Road, Tema, Lashibi and Nungua.

The delay means that the high expectation of motorists has been dashed as they wished the road would have been completed by now, to facilitate their mobility.

A Driver, Mr Abraham Sarpong, who claims he uses the Spintex Road on a daily basis, expressed his disappointment at the snail pace at which the project was being executed and charged the contractor to speed up work to facilitate vehicular movement.

In an interview with Public Agenda on Friday, Mr Sarpong said: “I really expected them [the contractor] to have finished by now because they started very well and they have the machines too but now we don't know what is happening.”

The Project Manager, Mr Gideon Appiah Amankwah, told Public Agenda during our visit to the project site on Friday that, they could not meet the deadline through no fault of theirs as he laid the blame on the government for not fulfilling its financial obligations.

“The situation is that we are having some problems with payment so let me say we are financially constrained. We are not getting payment for work done on time. Basically, I think that is what is delaying our work. Because as contractors we need to buy a lot of materials, and if payment for work done is not forthcoming it becomes really difficult for us to be able to fast track our work and finish on time. So I will say that everything boils down to finance.”

Asked about the cost implications of the delay, Mr Amankwah disclosed that the cost is being borne by the contractor, a situation, he maintained, has been the bane of local contractors.

“It is not a cost to the government but to the contractor. That is the unfortunate aspect of locally awarded contracts. Foreigners are always given fluctuation orders and that sort of thing, but local contractors don't have such privileges.”

He disclosed that pushing for such privileges would mean that the contractor could be black listed and may not be awarded any contract again.

Mr Amankwa explained, “With the foreign contractors, when prices of goods and services change, they are able to put in claims if, for no reason, the delay does not come from them. But if you are a local contractor and you want to put in a claim because the price of cement, iron rods, among others, have changed, it's really difficult.”

He stated that, it has become necessary to work under those conditions since as a company, they want to be in business all the time; hence though a bitter pill, they would have to swallow it.

He declined to give a definite date for the completion of the project, adding that would depend on when the payment would be made. He nonetheless maintained that work done so far was about 93 percent complete.