MCA-funded Tetteh-Quarshie-Mallam road project to meet deadline
Contractors working on the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange-Apenkwa and Apenkwa-Mallam Junction roads are working under urgency to beat the January 31, 2012 deadline required for the completion of the projects.
The projects are being executed under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) compact at the cost of $165 million.
The compact requires the two contractors, China Railway (Wuju) Group, working from the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange to Apenkwa, and MSF of Portugal from Apenkwa to Mallam Junction, to complete the works by the end of January this year and hand them over to the government next month.
Failure on the part of the construction companies to do so will put the country at the risk of losing the funds for the project to the US government, which is funding the project.
With barely three weeks to the deadline, however, MSF of Portugal which is constructing the Mallam Interchange has so far done 89 per cent of the work, putting pressure on the company to deliver the much-awaited roads expected to ease traffic congestion at that place.
According to the Infrastructure Project Manager in charge of Transportation and Agriculture, Mr John Bernard Koranteng Yorke, the China Railway (Wuju) Group had executed about 98 per cent of its project.
There are five loops forming the interchange at the Mallam Junction and, according to Mr Yorke, those loops were currently at various stages of completion.
Loop One is from Awoshie towards Kaneshie, Loop Two from Kasoa to Awoshie, Loop Three from Awoshie to Kasoa, Loop Four from Kaneshie to Awoshie and Loop Five leads to the Gbawe community.
Construction of the retaining walls for Loop Three is ongoing, in addition to pavement works on Loop Five.
Some members of the public expressed scepticism about the ability of MSF of Portugal to deliver the project on schedule, but Mr York told the Daily Graphic, “We hope that by January 31, this year the remaining 11 per cent of the works at the Mallam Interchange would be completed.”
He explained that executors of MIDA projects did not have any window of opportunity to renegotiate for additional time and so “we have taken concrete steps to ensure that the contractors finish the work within the compact period”.
One of such steps, he stated, was a special dispensation secured for the contractor in November last year which allowed him to clear his goods from the ports swiftly to facilitate the smooth execution of the job.
So far, the four foot bridges at Nii Boi Town, the Kata Hotel, Abrantie Spot and Kwashieman have been completed, except for the guard rails that are yet to be fixed.
Work from the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange to Apenkwa, Mr Yorke stated, was nearly completed.
“What is being done now is the installation of street lights, traffic signals and road furniture which include directional signs and road markings,” he said.
The Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange-Apenkwa and Apenkwa-Mallam Junction projects are part of the $547 million US funded MiDA projects aimed at improving various sectors of Ghana’s economy, including transportaion and agriculture.
Source: Daily Graphic