Govt to develop road infrastructure

3/11/2010

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil & Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Government has earmarked $2.85 billion from the $13.2 billion loan facility secured from the Chinese government for road infrastructural development in the country.
Phase one of the project, estimated at $1.9 billion and scheduled to begin next year, will include the construction of three interchanges at Tema, Ashiaman and Afienya roundabouts.
Taking his turn at the meet-the-press series in Accra, the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, stated that the first phase of the project also included the upgrading of the Doryumu Junction-Kpong-Asikuma, Asikuma Junction-Have, and Have to Hohoe roads.
The rest were Dodopepesu to Nkwanta, Nkwanta to Oti Damanko and Yendi to Gushiegu-Nankpanduri.
The Hohoe-Fodome- Golokwati, Have to Kpando- Golokwati-Leklebi Kame and Nkwanta-Dambai roads would also be improved under phase one.
Phase two of the project, estimated at $1.87 million, is for the improvement of roads, including Asikuma Junction-Anum to Boso-Todome-Gemeni, Juapong-Sokode, Nkwanta-Kabite and Kpasa-Kamawloe.
Asphaltic concrete would also be laid on the Tema Beach Road, Pokuase-Ritz Junction-Tema and the Cape Coast town roads among others.
In all, 1,152.37 kilometres of roads in urban areas would be tackled with the funds from the Chinese loan facility. Beneficiary cities include Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, Sunyani, Bolga, Wa, Bawku, Sunyani, Cape Coast and Obuasi.
Mr Gidisu said the government had received $200 million from the COCOBOD syndicated loan of $1.5 billion for the maintenance, rehabilitation and upgrading of roads in cocoa-growing areas.
“This is the highest one-time support to the roads sector by COCOBOD since this collaboration started. This investment would see a lot of activity in the rural road sector in 2011/2012,” he said.
It is estimated that 4,000 kilometres of routine maintenance, 2,000 kilometres of spot improvement and 750 kilometres of bituminous surface dressing will be carried out.
The minister said it had been agreed that some works must be done in the other non-cocoa producing regions where coffee and sheanuts were produced.
Mr Gidisu said under the Transport Sector Project funded by the World Bank, works on the first sub-component, which involves the minor rehabilitation and spot improvement of 683 kilometres feeder roads, would begin in the first quarter of next year.
The sub-component has been packaged into 84 lots and would involve spot improvement and minor rehabilitation.
Mr Gidisu said the Department of Urban Roads would continue to undertake its routine and periodic maintenance programme next year, and indicated that funding would be provided from the Road Fund.
He said programmes were underway to involve the private sector in road infrastructural development, and indicated that some of the projects considered under the programme included the concrete overlay of the Accra-Tema Motorway, dualisation of Accra-Kumasi and Accra-Tema Motorway interchange at Teshie Link.
Mr Gidisu said the introduction of automation at toll booths on the Tema Motorway had increased revenue from GH¢56,600 per month to GH¢67,000.
That, he said, showed the impact of the automation and would be replicated at other toll booths across the country.