State of Volta roads
The Volta Regional branch of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) has embarked on the rehabilitation of some major roads. Even though a number of them have taken shape, people have expressed concern about the rate at which work is progressing.
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Some of the roads that have received attention include the Have -Kpando-Dambai, Ho-Adidome, Ho-Fume and Bame-Kpedze. In addition, ongoing works on the portion of the new eastern corridor highway that passes through the Volta Region have received a major boost.
Eastern corridor highway
The eastern corridor highway, which is estimated to cover a distance of 700 kilometres, begins from the Tema Roundabout and terminates at Kulungugu in the Upper East Region.
When complete, it will cut travel distance from the south of the country to the north by about 70 kilometres. At present, the old route to the Upper East from Tema passes through five regions; Greater Accra, Eastern, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Northern, whereas the new route will take the traveller through only three regions, namely Greater Accra, Volta and Northern.
The portion of the road through the Volta Region starts from Juapong through Asikuma, Peki, Kpeve, Hohoe, Jasikan, Kadjebi, Nkwanta and Oti-Damanko.
The first lot, which begins at Asikuma to Agate, which is being undertaken by a Chinese company, G.I.international, is said to be behind schedule because work is at a ‘crawling’ pace.
The second lot, from Agate to Dodo-Pepesu, about 187 kilometres, is yet to receive attention as the government has not awarded the contract for construction works to begin.
As a result, travelling from Have through Hohoe to Jasikan has become very difficult because of large potholes that have developed on the road.
ARSO International, a firm of consortium of investors, has expressed interest in the road and has given assurance to pre-finance the project once ongoing negotiations with the government are completed.
With sponsorship from the European Union, the third lot from Pepesu-Nkwanta has begun. This portion, which was started as far back as 2007, is said to cost an estimated $100 million.
The final lot (of the part of Eastern corridor highway in the Volta Region) is from Nkwanta to Oti Damanko. That part of the road is being undertaken by another Chinese contractor, China Jiangxi. Unfortunately, work on this portion is also going at a snail’s pace.
Ho- Adidome road
The next focus that comes to mind is the Ho-Adidome road because of the recent diversion in the wake of the closure of the Adomi bridge at Atimpoku to pave the way for rehabilitation works on the bridge.
Here, three contractors have been tasked to accomplish the construction of the road.
One of them, Usuya Construction Works Limited, was expected to construct the road from Ho to a little bit beyond Adaklu-Tsrefe but the contractor failed to deliver to expectation, leaving part of the stretch still untarred. His inability to complete the project had been attributed to the fact that he had not been paid for previous work done.
Similarly, contractors engaged in other portions towards Adidome have done the primer seal, awaiting payment from the government to continue with the final seal to make the road more solid.
The road, which is being patronised by motorists as a result of the diversion from the Atimpoku bridge, is under severe pressure and according to engineers, it may be destroyed because it had not yet been completed. This, they claimed, could cause financial loss to the state if work did not resume for final touches.
The contractors, Progressive and Modern Construction (PMC) Company and Monsieur Jah-NICORF Limited, are still faced with the problem of delayed payment to continue their work.
Have- Kpando –Dambai road
Off the Eastern corridor road at Have, there is this other stretch of road that passes through Kpando, Nkonya, Kwamekrom, Tapa-Abotoase, Worawora, and Asukawkaw and to Dambai.
Work on this road has been consistent and improved from time to time. As of today, the road surface has been tarred almost to Dambai. The last phase of the project is being carried out by a South Korean Company and extends to a distance of 70 kilometres from Kabosreso to Dambai.
A significant aspect of this road is the realignment of the path leading to the Katanga mountain, near Asukawkaw, which hitherto was seen as a death trap because there had been many accidents on the mountain road.Currently, it is very easy to access the route safely without fear.
Now, it is possible to embark on a return trip between Accra and Dambai in the same day, unlike some years ago.
