Dome-Kwabenya roads to be rehabilitated at GH¢19M

A year from now, residents of Dome-Kwabenya constituency in the Greater Accra Region will no longer go through the daily ritual of plying on bad roads within the constituency.

This follows the award of some major roads within the constituency that are in a very deplorable state to a contractor, Ghacos Ghana Limited.

The scope of work to be carried out by the contractor includes Construction of 1.5km of dual carriageway from Dome Roundabout to Taifa with provision for roadside drains; construction of ancillary roads to improve traffic management and safety in the area; construction of 750 metres of storm drainage works to reduce the perennial flooding within the area; construction of walkways along the roads to improve pedestrians safety; and streetlights to improve visibility at night for both motorists and pedestrians.

Other roads earmarked to benefit from this facelift are Old and New Agbogba, Hatso, Dome Pillar 2 (Ante Mary), Kwabenya and Abokobi. The cost of the project is GH?19.093 million with contract duration of twelve (12) months.

Commenting on the road project at a sod-cutting ceremony to commence work on the dilapidated road networks in Accra, last week Wednesday, Second Deputy Majority Leader and MP for the area, Hon Sarah Adwoa Safo, lauded her constituents for enduring the pain of plying on such bad roads and also having the patience to wait on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to fix the road networks for them.

She told her people that if the bad road networks within the constituency were a priority of the then government led by Mr John Dramani Mahama, they would have fixed it long time ago to spare her the insults she had received as well as the ordeal of spending time and resources to organise such an event. “As a Member of Parliament of this constituency, I am very aware of the negative effects our bad road network has on the operations of residents of the constituency; drivers who ply on these bad roads charge you extra on the simple reason that they have to frequently visit the workshop because of the persistent breakdown of their vehicles as a result of these bad road networks.”

“…I also pity your long stay under the scorching sun in search of vehicles to commute you to and fro as a result of some drivers’ reluctance to ply the roads because of its bad nature.

I recall in one of the instances, the bridge which links the Atomic Down road to Taifa was washed away by floods, it then became a death trap and several diversions that were created to enhance movements also created a lot of inconveniences for you in this constituency. It is not as if I didn’t do anything about it as a Member of Parliament.

Our party was in opposition then and there was very little I could do. Despite the numerous calls on the previous government to, as a matter of urgency, rehabilitate these roads, it all fell on deaf ears because it wasn’t the priority of then John Dramani Mahama government,” she noted. She added: “My ears have been on the grounds listening to the cries of the people and anytime I hear them talking about the dilapidated state of the roads, my heart throbs for the people. When I hear mothers complain about the pain that they have to go through before they can go to their workplaces, I weep.

“Today, we are fortunate we have a President, His Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who has the ears to listen to the cries of his people. I knocked on his door and presented our case of the dilapidated state of our road networks and he has responded positively,” she said. Commenting further, Mrs Safo, who is also the Minister of State in charge of Public Procurement, urged the residents to fully cooperate with the contractor and remove all unwanted structures from the road network to enable him perform his task.

Delivering the keynote address, Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Atta, told the gathering that roads within the Dome-Kwabenya constituency are very important ones since they serve as a link to some other important roads including the main Accra-Kumasi highway and therefore, its deplorable nature was of very much concern to President Akufo-Addo. “This is unprecedented. This is the first of its kind not only in the Greater Accra Region but for the whole country.

This is going to open the gate way for a number of road projects under the leadership of his Excellency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo”, he stated. The project, he said, was awarded to M. F. Ghacos Ghana Limited after going through a very rigid national competitive bidding process, stressing that under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo, “sole sourcing, selective tendering, price quotation and the likes are a thing of the past unless it is absolutely necessary as prescribed under the Public Procurement Act.