“Mills, achievement the same across the different regions of Ghana” – Fiifi Kwetey

Mr Fiifi Kwetey, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, said on Friday that the story of exceptional job done in the three years of President Evans Atta Mills' government is the same across the different regions of Ghana.

"The people of Akatsi through Tadjewu to Dzodze can still not believe their eyes that within three years a major new road has been constructed and commissioned for them opening that corridor to a whole new economic opportunity", he said.

He was speaking at the "Putting the records straight" series initiated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Forum, a communication team within the party to straighten the distortions about President Mills' achievements.

Mr Kwetey mentioned Worawora to Dambai road, which he said, had never been tarred before but for the first time was nearing completion; the 94 kilometers Tarkwa-Bogoso-Ayamfuri; the Eastern Corridor road project; a 695 kilometers road from the Motorway Roundabout to Kulungugu for which funding had been secured, and the various road projects within Accra-Tema metropolis as part of NDC's efforts to accelerate the movement of goods and services.

That, he said, also catalyzed the transformational economy envisaged in the Better Ghana Agenda.

He said what made the success story even more remarkable was the fact that President Mills had to cough a staggering 35 trillion old cedis to pay off arrears left behind by the NPP government.

He said, that amount of money could be used to construct so many more roads and other infrastructural projects all over the country within the last three years.

"Undeterred, President Mills is steadily but surely on course towards completing the roads, now called the gang of four roads."

Mr Kwetey said, the performance chalked by President Mills in the transport sector was equally impressive and cited the aviation sector, which had seen three new boarding gates at the Kotoka International Airport; eight additional aircraft parking bays nearing completion; the construction of a Perishable Cargo Centre to boost the country's horticultural export; the construction of a gold refinery plant, and the provision of about 2,300 trolleys within three years.

Mr Kwetey, said within three years, four new carriers were now operating in Ghana and many new international carriers were eagerly finalizing plans to open routes into Accra while local domestic flights increased from two to four.

He said despite creating a whole Ministry for Railways under NPP regime, it was unable to do anything significant for that sector, adding that though the sod cutting of the Accra-Tema railway project was done in the year 2004 and the project was to be completed by the end of 2005, the NPP could not deliver the project and it had to take President Mills to complete the Accra-Tema railway line.

He said whereas the NPP spent precious resources out of the 750 million dollars to procure locomotives when the railway line was not yet in existence, President Mills through the three billion dollar facility would take the transport sector to unprecedented heights.

He indicated that, President Mills would channel a significant chunk of that resource into the Western Corridor infrastructural renewal project , notably the Takoradi Port retrofit and the Western Railway lines and the Eastern corridor multi-modal transportation.

Mr Kwetey said those projects were visionary and unprecedented investments that were set to completely revolutionize the nation's transport sector.

These are the far-sighted undertakings of a leader whose obsession is not procurement politics but the real transformation of the nation's economic infrastructure, he added.

Mr Elvis Afriyie, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development stressed the need for political parties to engage in a campaign driven by issues and facts and pledged the NDC's preparedness to debate the NPP on any platform.**