Bolga-Bawku road to be completed before 2020 election – President
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has given the assurance that construction works on the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmako road would be completed before next year’s general elections.
The President made the promise when he addressed a durbar of chiefs and people of Binaba in the Bawku West District as part of a two-day working tour of the Upper East Region.
The road passes through six districts in the region and serves a major link to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Togo.
It was awarded in 2016 to a Brazilian Construction Company, Quirez Galvao, at a cost of GH¢613 million.
The project was halted when the current political administration assumed office because of some detected anomalies in the procurement processes.
President Akufo-Addo said an initial funding of €68 million had been secured from the ICBC Standard Bank in the United Kingdom for the project and this was expected to increase to €128 million on completion.
“We are determined to ensure that the road is fully fixed to promote sustainable economic development in this area and Ghana at large and nothing can stop us,” the president said.
He told the people that the 24.5km stretch from Tilli to Binaba had been awarded at a contract sum of GH¢12.3 million and that within the next few weeks the contractors would mobilize to site.
Another GH¢10.6 million, under the Ghana Roads Fund, was also being spent to do spot fixing on selected roads in the area.
President Akufo-Addo touched on security, and said, apart from recruiting more police officers, the security agencies were also being equipped with the needed tools and logistics to efficiently perform to ensure the safety of everybody.
He made reference to recent happenings in Burkina Faso, which had forced some of the people there to flee to seek refuge in the area, something that had necessitated strong military presence in the Bawku West District, and asked the residents, to give the soldiers their maximum cooperation.
Naba Akolburi Moses Abaare Appiah IV, the Chief of Binaba, applauded the social interventions rolled out by the government including the Free Senior High School, the Planting for Food and Jobs, One District One Factory, One Village One Dam, the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO).
He appealed for the supply of equipment and expansion of the infrastructure at the Binaba Polyclinic, which was serving the health needs of people in about 150 communities, to improve healthcare, especially for pregnant women and children.
The President was accompanied by Mr. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, the Minister of Health, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister of Education, Mr. Kwasi Amoako Atta, Minister of Roads and Highways, Dr. Afriyie Akoto, Minister of Agriculture, Madam Tangoba Abayage, Regional Minister, together with Municipal and District Chief Executives of the Region.
Source: GNA