The Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has deployed two local construction firms, First Sky Group and Oswal Investments Limited, to immediately begin emergency road repairs on the Tema Motorway to Dawhenya and Ashaiman-Afienya stretches.
The move is expected to bring relief to thousands of road users who endure heavy traffic congestion and deteriorating road conditions on the two routes.
Mr Agbodza, MP, Adaklu, gave the directive on Tuesday when he toured the two stretches to assess first-hand of the traffic situation commuters face on daily basis.
The emergency repairs works, Mr Agbodza said, would be carried out alongside full-scale construction which is expected to begin within two months.
Per the schedule, First Sky Group would work on the Tema Motorway roundabout to the Central University section and Oswal Investments would work on the Ashaiman Roundabout to Afienya.
Interacting with the journalists after the tour, the minister assured commuters of the government’s commitment to completing the projects on schedule as he acknowledged their frustrations caused by delays.
“We are not going to leave our people in this mess, this pain. We shall fix these two. So within two months, we are going to work on it as quickly as possible. Within two months, you’ll see contractors back on the roads,” Mr Agbodza assured.
He also used the opportunity to address the slow pace of work on sections of the Ashaiman-Akosombo stretch.
He explained that the contractor handling the stretch, INZAC, was working on sections with less traffic congestion instead of the critical Ashaiman Roundabout to Michel Camp area.
As a result, he warned that government may have to descope their contract and bring in other contractor to speed up the work.
In furtherance, Mr Agbodza noted thats the dreaded debt exchange programme had severely impacted road project financing, leading to delays.
He, however, assured that the government remained committed to settling outstanding debts and completing key infrastructure projects.
“Despite our financial challenges, we will not leave our people in this mess. We will fix these roads and reduce the suffering of commuters,” he stressed.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI