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President cuts sod for bridge
construction over White Volta
Kpasenkpe (N/R), Jan. 18, GNA - President John Agyekum
Kufuor on Thursday cut the sod for the construction of a
122-metre bridge over the White Volta at Kpasenkpe in the
West Mamprusi District to open up the area often referred to
as "the overseas".
The project forms part of a 10.8 million-euro Northern
Bridges Project funded jointly by the Government of Ghana
and the Agence Francaise de Developpment (AFD) of France.
Under this Project, five major bridges in the Northern and
Upper East Regions would be constructed.
The successful completion of the White Volta Bridge would
effectively put to an end the situation where the West
Mamprusi District for most part of the year, is virtually
divided, with people living beyond the river forced to
relate more to the Upper East and thus denying the assembly
of the needed revenue for development.
President Kufuor noted that apart from the tremendous
economic benefits, the Project would also help to prevent
the frequent loss of lives through the use of dangerous
canoes.
He drew attention to the need and urgency to deliver the
Project within time, specifications and budget.
President Kufuor, therefore, asked the Ministry of
Transportation, the Consultants and the Chinese contractors,
China Jiangvi Corporation to make sure that the work was
scrupulously done.
He expressed appreciation to France for its continued
support for Ghana's socio-economic development, saying that
it was his expectation that the bond of cooperation between
the two countries would be deepened in the years ahead.
Mr Magnus Opare-Asamoah, Deputy Minister of Transportation,
said the Northern Ghana Bridges Project formed a major
component of the Department of Feeder Roads Bridge
Development Programme, under which 1,200 water crossing
points had been identified and 120 of them have had bridges
constructed over them.
He said two of the major bridges, which were of immense
national socio-economic importance, were the White Volta
crossing at Kpasenkpe and River Daka crossing at Ekumdi,
near Kpandai in the East Gonja District.
He said there were other minor bridges over River Naa Nori
on the Gambaga-Tomboko road in the East Mamprusi District;
River Abierre on the Zokko-Manyaro road and River Zebilla on
the Zebilla-Zabre road, both in the Upper East Region.
Mr. Opare-Asamoah emphasised the Government's commitment to
ensuring the early completion of all projects nationwide to
enable it to achieve its objective of enhancing the living
standards of the people.
Mr Pierre Jacquemot, France Ambassador in Ghana, said France
through the AFD was supporting Ghana within the framework of
the country's road sector development programme and in line
with the Growth and Poverty-Reduction Strategy.
He said on a cumulative basis, France had committed more
than 400 billion cedis to support the development of the
three Northern Regions.
Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister
commended the Government for the development projects it had
undertaken in the three Northern Regions and mentioned in
particular, the numerous construction works currently going
on in the campuses of the University for Development Studies
(UDS) at Nyankpala and Navrongo.
He, however, appealed to the Government to construct similar
bridges over the Tatchli River in the West Gonja District
and the Yala River in the East Gonja District to link the
people of the two districts to those in the Central Gonja
District.
The Wulugu-Naba, Professor John Nabila commended the
Government for fulfilling its promise to construct the
bridge over the White Volta, saying: "It is a dream come
true and we the people of West Mamprusi will ever remain
grateful for it."
He said the construction of the bridge would facilitate
access to fertile agricultural lands; provide employment for
the youth and open up investment opportunities for investors
in agriculture.
GNA
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