The ministry of roads and highways is set to hold a crunch meeting with management of Engineers and Planners (E&P) Construction Company over delays on works on portions of the Tamale- Salaga Makango road.
The meeting, scheduled on Friday February 7, 2020 in Accra will determine whether or not Engineers and Planners (E&P) Construction Company will be allowed to continue to work on the 137 kilometers road which E&P is expected to work on 57 kilometers.
It will be recalled that prior to the President’s visit to the Savanna region on Monday February 4, some NPP youth in the Salage South constituency had stopped the contractor from continuing work on the road.
The youth accused E&P of only showing up at site anytime the President is expected to visit the Savanna region. A claim the Kpembewura corroborated when the President called on him at his palace.
But in a response, the roads and highways Minister Kwesi Amoako Atta condemned Engineers and Planners for abandoning site and assured the Kpembewura of frantic efforts to get the company back to work or a possible conciliation of the contract if the two parties are unable to reach a consensus on Friday.
He assured the Kpembewura that, the 137-kilometre Tamale-Salaga-Makango road will be completed by the end of 2020 to enhance economic activities of the region.
“Because the entire road is of greater importance to government, I am arranging a meeting this Friday with Management of E&P to bring them back to work and I want to assure you that if we are unable to reach consensus because we’ll want to know all the problems because they have not come to work all this while and the contract is on and I want to assure you that because we want to see entire stretch from Tamale through Salage to Makango done before the close of the year, if we are unable to reach a consensus, I can assure you that steps will be taken to cancel the contract and re-award it to a different contractor”.
The Minister said “you are all aware that the President has declared this year has a year (2020) as a year of roads, it show how important roads and for that matter infrastructure is important in the administration of the President, cos we need to work on infrastructure to form the basis for the economic development of our country”.
The roads and highways Minister Kwesi Amoako Atta also stated that, “the President is particular about infrastructural development in the six newly created regions to bring to speed to catch up with the rest of the old 10 regions and has therefore instructed all his infrastructural Ministers to pay greater attention to the six new regions in terms of infrastructure whiles we look at the global picture of developing the whole country”.
Hon. Amoako Atta also announced that “we have started giving 14 kilometers out to two contractors, amounting to 30 million Ghana cedis and the procurement processing is on and we hope to finish by the end of this month, February. And I want to assure you that the internal roads in Kpembe and Salaga will be worked on”.
“Apart from that, Paramount Chief (referring to Kpembewura) you spoke about the bridge at Makango, I want to assure you that bridge is very important and my ministry has initiated studies on that bridge and I want to assure you that when we finish with the studies steps will be taken and I believe the President will not hesitate to secure funding and take it to cabinet for approval to make sure that bridge is fixed”, the Minister stated.
Source: Edward A. Ken-Zorre | www.diamondfmonline.com | Ghana
