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President Kufuor commissions
road in Brong-Ahafo
Antwikrom (B/A), Dec 19, Ghanadot/GNA - President John
Agyekum Kufuor on Tuesday commissioned the
Sunyani-Ntotroso-Acherensua road and commended the
contractor, J. Adom Limited, for a good and quality job don
He said the government was also highly grateful to the
contractor for the free modification of the road at
Antwikrom at the cost of 11.3 billion cedis to prevent
accidents.
The construction of the 48.3 kilometres road cost 10 Million
Ghana Cedis.
Addressing the chiefs and people, President Kufuor said the
co mmissioning of the road was a "tacit demonstration of the
belief of the government that good and safe roads are a sine
qua non for the speedy socio-economic development of the
country."
"In other words we believe that a sound infrastructure base
is necessary to propel the nation towards our goal to
achieve a middle-income status for Ghana in the year 2015",
he said.
President Kufuor said since the NPP government was given the
mandate to direct the affairs of the country in 2001, it had
demonstrated that given the relative peace and resolve of
Ghanaians to put their shoulders to the wheel of
development, Ghana would gradually become a structurally
beautiful country with modern road infrastructure to enhance
socio-economic development.
He said the government was proud to be associated with these
developments and mentioned a few of the major road
development projects that had been completed in the last two
years.
These include the Abuakwa-Bibiani, Mallam-Kasoa,
Kasoa-Ankamu and Ankamu-Yamoransa roads.
Others are Konongo-Kumasi, Kpandu-Worawora-Dambai Phase 11,
Dualisation of Pantang-Peduase Lodge, Tema-Sogakope and
Bole-Tinga roads.
President Kufuor said the government had undertaken the road
development works in its commitment to improve and modernize
road transportation in the country.
"One cannot over-emphasize the benefits of reduced travel
time, reduced vehicle operating costs, reliability of the
road network, increased economic activity and enhanced
socio-economic status of our people".
President Kufuor expressed the gratitude of the government
and the people of Ghana to "our development partners and our
hardworking contractors and consultants for their support,
dedication and contribution to the development of the road
sector".
He cautioned the Ministry of Transportation to ensure the
maintenance of its road infrastructure in order to obtain
the full benefits of the huge investments made.
President Kufuor appealed to all to ensure the security of
road safety signs and crash barriers and expressed regret
that they were either damaged or stolen by some unscrupulous
people.
Mr. Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister,
said the road had created a direct link between Ahafo and
Brong and had shortened the distance from Sunyani to Goaso
and beyond.
"Farmers along the road are very happy because they can
easily convey their farm produce to marketing centres and
feel safe travelling on the road", he said.
He said the road had also helped a great deal in the
commencement of gold mining activities around Kenyasi and
Ntotroso.
Its construction coincided with the beginning of the Ahafo
mine and most of personnel of Newmont found it convenient to
stay in Sunyani and commute daily to the mining area.
The Regional Minister said roads in the region had seen
tremendous improvement since the NPP government assumed
power in 2001 and expressed the gratitude of the chiefs and
people for the numerous roads and other projects executed in
the region.
President Kufuor later in the day cut the sod for
commencement of reconstruction works on the 56-kilometre
Berekum-Sampa road at Faaman in the Jaman South district,
also being undertaken by J. Adom Limited.
He said with the commencement of work on the road in
addition to the other numerous on-going projects, "our
government with the support of our development partners is
steadily actualizing our commitment to the provision of good
roads to enhance the socio-economic development of this
nation".
President Kufuor said the road when completed would bring
immense socio-economic benefits to the people because they
would be able to travel to the market centres and health
posts in a more convenient and safer way.
In particular, he said, commuters from other parts of the
country and neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire would do so within a
shorter time and in a more comfortable condition.
The President noted the number of commercial and religious
activities during the Christmas season and appealed to all
to take measures to ensure that the incidence of road
traffic accidents was reduced, if not completely eliminated.
He called on the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the
Ghana Police Serve, the National Road safety Commission,
transport associations to intensify their education and
enforcement of corrective measures on road users.
"We need to make our roads life tracks not death traps for
our people during the Christmas period and for all time",
President Kufuor said.
Mr. Godfrey Bayon Tangu, Minister of State for
Transportation, explained that the project involved a
two-lane single carriageway bituminous surfaced road from
Kilometre 32 at Drobo to kilometer 88 at Sampa, near the
border with neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire.
He said project, estimated at 41.5 million Ghana Cedis and
fully funded by the government, included the construction of
a 15- metre bridge over River Tain.
The Minister said the project would result in a significant
increase in economic activities and facilitate the marketing
of agricultural produce.
GNA
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