Mahama pledges to invest more in road construction

President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday said the ruling National Democratic Congress, is making the biggest investment in roads construction in the history of the country.

He said his administration is sinking a total of $1 billion in the road sector, adding that this includes all the cocoa roads.

President Mahama said this when he inspected construction works on the Kwafokrom-Apedwa portion of the Kumasi-Accra Highway dualisation project at Suhum in the Eastern Region.

The 31.7 kilometre road formed part of the major project that was awarded on December 17, 2008 and was scheduled to be completed in March 2012.

A total of 280 out of the estimated 297 affected property owners have been paid compensation, while earthworks, demolition and site clearance are about 98 per cent completed.

The road project, when completed, would form part of the international trunk road Number Six that would connect Accra, through Kumasi and to Gonokrom at the Ghana-Ivory Coast border.

President Mahama said while the single carriage of the road would be completed by October, government is seeking funding to complete the second single carriage by April 2016.

The President said although government was working around the clock to fix the energy challenges, focus would also be on roads, water and other social amenities that would advance growth and development.

Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, Minister for Roads and Highways, said the completion of the Accra-Kumasi road was critical to link the country to other neighbouring water locked countries like Burkina Faso and Mali.

He gave the assurance that the road would be completed to ease transportation from Accra to Kumasi and beyond.