The government has decided to migrate the 64-kilometre Ashaiman Roundabout–Atimpoku road project and other major road contracts onto the Big Push infrastructure programme to address delays caused by challenges with loan disbursements.
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Governs Kwame Agbodza, said the government would use its own resources to finance the projects and ensure their timely completion.
“While we have closed the deals on bilateral financing, the drawdown is the delay, and so the government is going to provide its own resources to continue the works,” he said.
Inspection
Speaking during an inspection of the Ashaiman Roundabout-Atimpoku road project yesterday, Mr Agbodza said the decision formed part of a broader government policy to replace delayed loan disbursements with domestic funding to accelerate the completion of critical road infrastructure projects.
“I am going to make a recommendation for the government to migrate the Ashaiman Roundabout-Atimpoku project onto the Big Push, but the scope and the terms of the actual work do not change. It is the source of funds that will be fully fledged Big Push.”
“We tried to manage this project somehow for one year, but we did not get much joy and we cannot wait when we can actually fund the project ourselves, given where we are.
“Not only are we going to fund this project, but we are doing the same for BHM Construction International Limited on the Tema–Aflao road.
“We are doing the same for the Bolgatanga–Bawku–Pulmakom road so that we can complete these projects on schedule,” the minister added.
Observation
The construction of the project commenced in May 2022, but had suffered significant delays due to financial challenges.
During the inspection, workers of Inzag GmbH, the construction firm executing the project, were seen working on site.
The contractors had also diverted traffic to facilitate construction activities. However, a billboard located within the road's right-of-way remained an obstruction.
Timeline
On the revised completion schedule, Mr Agbodza said the contractor had proposed a 22-month construction period, with the government working towards a completion date around October 2028.
He, however, said that the contractor was expected to demonstrate visible progress along the entire stretch, particularly beyond Shai Hills towards the Adomi Bridge.
“We need to see activity beyond Shai Hills.
We need to see activity all the way to Adomi Bridge because that is the obvious termination point,” he said.
On obstructions affecting the construction works, Mr Agbodza gave the owner of the billboard situated within the road's right-of-way one week to dismantle and remove the structure to make way for the construction of a flyover.
