Work on Accra-Cape Coast road begins in Sept.

Accra, Aug 6, GNA - The government has received an initial amount of 24 million dollars out of the 83 million dollars Japanese grant for the rehabilitation of the Accra-Cape Coast road.

President John Agyekum Kufuor, who announced this in Accra on Tuesday, said a Japanese contractor to undertake the project would arrive soon to commence work in September.

Addressing separate durbars at Odorkor and the business community at Abossey Okai as part of his tour of the Accra Metropolis, he said contract had also been signed for work to begin on the World Bank sponsored dual carriageway from Mallam to Kasoa.

President Kufuor also inspected on-going projects at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and commissioned the rehabilitated Tuesday Market at Mamprobi.

He said the completion of works on the arterial roads from Accra to the Central Region would boost the country's economy and help reduce the rate of accidents in the region.

President Kufuor said a Task Force comprising surveyors and planners would be formed soon to tackle the perennial flooding of some parts of the Metropolis and appealed for co-operation to solve the problem.

He said property owners to be affected should not hesitate since that was the only way to solve the problem, adding that, after the re-zoning of the areas those qualified would be compensated by the government.

President Kufuor said about 230 million cedis from the HIPC funds had been spent on a school block at Odorkor while streetlights had been extended to the area, which would get telephone facilities soon. He said the government's hard work and sincerity would be the criteria for Ghanaians to retain it in power.

"We will not buy votes. We want the sincerity and honesty of labour to be the sincere support from the people. We are on course and will continue to be on course. Government will never deceive the people," he said.

Commissioning the market, President Kufuor said even though the previous government started the project, it was not abandoned but continued and completed because it was a viable one.

He said, "This is how the country should be governed. Any viable project initiated by a previous government should be continued. We are not in competition with anyone".

President Kufuor said the market was not only beneficial to traders in Accra but also for those from all parts of the country and urged them to maintain the facility and to keep it clean always. 06 Aug 03