Brazilian Contractor Queiroz Galvão has resumed work on the 116km Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakom road in the Upper East Region after the project stalled several months due to lack of funds.
The 116km stretch of road was awarded under former president John Mahama to a Brazilian contractor Queiroz Galvão and a local contractor MAWUMS in 2016 at a cost of GHc613 million with funding from the Road Fund.
Even though some portions of the road have been tarred, the project stalled since 2017 due to lack of funds.
But speaking at a durbar of chiefs in Binaba in the Bawku West District during a two-day working visit of the Upper East Region by President Nana Akufo-Addo, Roads and Highways Minister, Kwesi Amoako Attah, said government has secured an amount of £68 million from the ICBC Standard Bank of the United Kingdom for the continuation of the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakom road.
He reiterated that, funding for the project will no longer be a reason for the contractor to leave the site and that, the road will be completed by close of 2020.
“This 103km road awarded was by the previous government at a cost of GHC613m and I should say that, everything about the procurement was strong. I won’t bore you to go into the details and it was not surprising that the previous government could not sustain the contract and couldn’t pay for it”.
“But the NPP government has done a lot of work and the contractor is back on the road. The Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta has issued a mandatory letter to ICBC Standard Bank of the United Kingdom to release an initial amount of £68 million as the first tranche and by the time we tackle the second tranche, we would have spent £128 million.”
“We have had a collaborative discussion with Queiroz Galvão and that is why they have returned to site working earnestly. They have started work and I want to assure all of you that, this work which has resumed will not halt again and will be fixed before 2020”.
Mr. Amoako Atta also hinted that the 24.5km Tilli to Binaba road has been awarded to Baah Ntiima Ghana limited at a cost of GHC12.3 million adding that, in a few weeks the contractor will commence work.
He added that the 19.7km Zebilla-Boya-Kukua feeder road funded by the road fund has also been awarded to Nagami construction limited for spot improvement at a cost of GHC10.6 million.
He again hinted that, a boost culvert will soon be constructed at Zebilla-Zoogo to address the difficulty pedestrians go through in crossing that stretch.
