Minister for Roads and Highways Kwame Governs Agbodza has assured residents and motorists that the poor condition of the Bolgatanga-Wa road will soon be addressed as contractors intensify work on sections of the corridor.
Mr. Agbodza gave the assurance during President John Dramani Mahama’s inspection of ongoing construction works on the Chuchuliga-Chiana section of the Chuchuliga-Tumu-Wa road as part of his two-day working tour of the Upper East Region.
The minister said contractors working along the corridor are back on site, with the government clearing outstanding payments that had previously affected the pace of work.
“When this is done Your Excellency, this idea of a terrible road between Bolga and Wa would be completely resolved and then everybody would know that this corridor is safe and passable for everybody. I must say that other contractors working on the stretch all the way to Wa are already working,” he said.
Mr. Agbodza attributed previous delays on the project to payment challenges but said the government has cleared outstanding certificates owed the contractor on the section inspected.
“Frankly speaking they would have gone further than now, but what the problem was about payment. As of now the two new certificates they raised haven’t even gone through the process to the Minister of Finance. Whatever we’ve got in terms of indebtedness to them we’ve cleared so far and it’s reflecting on the amount of work they are doing on site.”
He said the government is also addressing road challenges across the Upper East Region, with more contractors expected to return to project sites in the coming months.
“In this region there are lots of issues that we needed to address and we have started addressing them. Every district, every constituency issues are being addressed. In the coming months you will see that many of the roads that people are worried about, contractors will start working on them.”
Mr. Agbodza said the section currently being undertaken under the government’s Big Push infrastructure programme extends to Chiana.
“What my Ministry is doing up to here is a Big Push project,” he said.
The Roads Minister also said the Mahama administration has prioritised the payment of arrears owed contractors while undertaking new road projects.
“So you will be on record to be the president that paid the largest portion of arrears under any government in our history. So you are not only continuing works you inherited, you are also doing new ones,” he told President Mahama.
According to the President, the approximately 34.23-kilometre road project has been divided among a number of contractors, including MyTurn Construction Limited, to accelerate work.
The Chuchuliga-Tumu-Wa road forms part of an important transport corridor connecting the Upper East and Upper West regions and facilitating the movement of people and goods between the two regions.
A1 Radio | 101.1 MHz | David Azure | Chuchuliga
