The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has launched the $2 billion Government of Ghana – SinoHydro Master Project Support Agreement (MPSA), and also cut the sod for the construction of the Tamale Interchange, the first interchange in the northern sector of the country.
According to President Akufo-Addo, Ghana, through a barter arrangement, will have US$2 billion worth of priority infrastructure projects delivered across the country, in exchange for the delivery of Ghanaian manufactured aluminium products to Sinohydro.
The barter arrangement has, thus, necessitated the establishment of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation, a statutory public corporation, to oversee the development of the exploitation of the full value chain of the country’s bauxite resources.
This, the President explained, is to guarantee that Ghana has a vibrant aluminium industry, “and ensure that we live up to our end of the barter transaction. This innovative arrangement, the first of its kind on the continent, is not going to add to our country’s total debt stock.”
The President made this known on Wednesday, 10th April, 2019, at the Jubilee Park, in Tamale, in the Northern Region.
Each of the sixteen (16) regions is set to benefit from the Sinohydro arrangement, with hospital projects, extension of electricity to rural communities, and construction of court and residential buildings for the Judicial Service, landfill sites and industrial parks, set to be undertaken.
The projects under Phase 1, which have been approved by Parliament, are as follows:
1.Lot 1 – Construction of Accra Inner City Roads. A total of eighty-four (84) kilometres of roads located in Trobu, Anyaa-Sowutoum, Dome-Kwabenya, Adenta and Teshie will be constructed;
2. Lot 2 – Construction of Kumasi and Mampong Inner City Roads. A total of one hundred (100) kilometres of inner-city roads will be constructed in Kumasi and Mampong. In Kumasi, the affected road networks are in Manhyia, Suame, Tafo Pankrono, Asokwa, Kwadaso, Oforikrom, Subin, Nhyiaeso and Bantama;
3.Lot 3 – Construction of the Tamale Interchange;
4.Lot 4 – Construction of the PTC Roundabout Interchange, in Sekondi-Takoradi, the first interchange in the western part of our country;
5.Lot 5 – Dualisation of the Adenta-Dodowa Road. Fourteen (14) kilometres of the Adenta-Dodowa Road will be dualised so as to reduce congestion, improve road safety, and reduce travel times on the corridor;
6.Lot 6 – Construction of Sunyani Inner City and Berekum Township Roads. A total of thirty-nine (39) kilometres of roads will be constructed in Sunyani and Berekum Township. In Sunyani, twenty-nine (29) kilometres of inner-city roads will be constructed, whilst Berekum Township will see ten (10) kilometres of its roads constructed;
7.Lot 7 – Construction of Prestea Township and Cape Coast Inner City Roads. A total of thirty-two (32) kilometres of roads will be constructed in Cape Coast and Prestea. In Cape Coast, twenty-two kilometres (22) of inner-city roads will be constructed, whilst Prestea Township will see ten (10) kilometres of roads constructed;
8.Lot 8 – Upgrading of Selected Feeder Roads in Ashanti and Western Regions. Sixty-eight (68) kilometres of feeder roads in Ashanti and Western North regions will be rehabilitated. The roads that will be rehabilitated are mainly in communities that have bauxite deposits;
9.Lot 9 – Rehabilitation of Akim Oda-Ofoase Road. This lot involves the rehabilitation of the thirty-eight (38) kilometre Akim Oda-Ofoase road, which is part of the trunk road network, IR3, and passes through several rural communities that connect Akim Oda to Ofoase;
10. Lot 10 – Construction of the Hohoe-Jasikan-Dodo Pepesu Road of the Eastern Corridor. This will involve the construction of the sixty-six (66) kilometre section of the Eastern Corridor Road between Hohoe to Jasikan and Dodo Pepesu;
These projects, President Akufo-Addo explained, are to be implemented on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) basis, and will be completed within thirty (30) calendar months after commencement.
“Government is also ensuring that, in accordance with the local content law, a minimum of 30% of works will be undertaken by Ghanaian contractors, and supervised by Ghanaian consultants. Thousands and thousands of jobs will be created for our youth, our country will be opened up for sustained growth and development, and, thereby, help put Ghana onto the path of progress and prosperity,” he added.
The President charged the Ministry of Roads and Highways and its implementing agencies to ensure that adequate and proper supervision is given to all the works being undertaken, guarantee that the country gets value for money, and ensure strict adherence to completion dates.
Whilst urging contractors to be mindful of the environmental protection laws of the country, and institute measures to mitigate against the negative health impacts the projects may have on citizens, President Akufo-Addo stressed that “I will not countenance any delays in the execution and delivery of the various infrastructural projects. Thirty (30) months is thirty (30) months.”
Under Phase 2 of the Sinohydro deal, which would come on stream after approval by Parliament, an additional 1,300 kilometres of roads, 3 interchanges, and 69 steel bridges will be constructed, at an estimated $850 million dollars.
Additional housing projects, rural electrification projects, industrial parks, hospitals, sanitation projects, and additional court and residential buildings for the Judicial Service, are components of phase 2.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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ATTENTION AND COMING NEWS, 2020 ELECTION IN GHANA TOTAL NUMBER OF VOTERS, 6 MILLION PEOPLE . NANA ADDO WILL GET 4 MILLION , AND JOHN FORD BOLE MAHAMA . 2 MILLION VOTES, FROM POLITICAL ANALYST AND SOOTH SAYER,
More than 50 people perished un-route Tamale before Kintampo. Have we fixed the single lane which is partly the cause of such mass murder on the road.
So is that a priority? At least finish the 1D1F, 1 Village 1 Dam, 1 Constitution 1 million, Free SHS, Mahama 200 schools, Mahama uncompleted Hospitals and others. What are we as a nation doing to ourselves? And you will find b1ock head old men endorsing this, and robotic sense1ess party members making comments they do not understand. Ohhhhh NDC NPP we beg you drive us slowly. kumdordor driver
But NDC gifted almost all our bauxite to Ibrahim Mahama. Ndc are armed robbers. They can fork off.
These guys are crazy. Just mere cutting of sod for a road project both the president and the vice president have to be present wasting our scarce resources on plane fuel. Couldn't this have been done by the regional minister? All these government appointees had to accompany nana addo to go to tamale to cut just a sod.
Stupiiiiiiiiiid kobi.Your president sold our bauxite for 2billion dollars and here you are foooooooooolishly praising him. Do you think the Chinese are fooooooooools to give you 2 billion dollars for bauxite under the ground without knowing that they will get 100 times the amount.
Common sense is common but only few has it, after Kwame Nkrumah built the first Over head at circle f the art or that long it was Rawlings who built King Tackie over pass and then Sankara over pass and then Kuffour came then Mahama the biggest one at circle , apart from the circle over pass which over pass in Ghana is the state of the art in Ghana , because the man is young and know what is modern he choose a beautiful thing for the nation. Akuffo Addo should let uses the design of the over pass that they are going to put up.
ghana has a credible leader who is working for the benefit of his people, nana God richly bless you. The man has well thought out development plan for this country let support him and ignore the evil nation wreckers left to them this 2 billion would have been used for very few inflated project and share the rest among themselves, never again are we going to allow them any where near the political administration of this country
Will NDC organise a press conference on this?
One of the worst mistakes we ever did as Ghanaians was voting for the NDC when Kufour's term ended. The 8-year John Mahama Atta Mills rule was a total waste of Ghana's time. I will pardon Prof. Mills because he was unwell most of the time. But as a younger leader Mahama was a disappointed to the youth of this country. Can he Mahama and my NDC friends say that JM is better leader than Akuffo Addo? No! not even close. Thank you Akuffo Addo, sorry we waited this long to give you the chance. You are not perfect but you are a better leader than Mahama. Ghana da wo ase. History will remember you long after you are gone.