By Benjamin A. Commey
Kitase (E/R), Oct 13, GNA – The contractor working on the 23-kilometre Dome-Kitase road project has given the assurance to complete the project within 14 months to facilitate human and vehicular movement.
Mr Eric Seddy Kutortse, Chairman, Messr First Sky Construction Limited, the construction firm undertaking the project, who gave the assurance said it was working day and night, to ensure that the ambitious 14-month stipulation was achieved.
Construction work on the $35 million project commenced in August this year and is expected to be completed within 24 months.
However, briefing the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah during an inspection tour to the site, the contractor said all efforts were underway to ensure that the project was delivered within 14 months.
He said: “This project has 24 months duration, we are one and half months into the 24 months. Our assurance is that with the pace at which we are going, we are sure that we will deliver this project within 14 months, within 14 months we will have it done.”
Giving details on the progress of work, Mr Kutortse said, so far, it had completed 97 per cent of all land clearing, while filling to formation was 15 per cent complete, adding that excavation and cut to formation was also 16 per cent complete.
He added that scarification and formation was 16 per cent complete, three per cent of 600*600mm U-drains had been constructed with 41 per cent of pipe culvert also constructed.
“What we are doing currently is that, we are improving the vertical alignment of the road by cutting to formation and we have almost 250,000 cutting to be done and if that is completed the project will be almost 30 per cent and per our programme by the end of this month we will cut the entire road to formation,” he said.
He added that: “Currently, we have also started the construction of U-drain, we’ve started also the culvert, we have only about eight culvert, we have constructed two already.”
Mr Kutortse appealed for settlement of compensation to affected persons to ensure timely completion of the project.
The Minister was accompanied by Mr Stephen Jalulah, Deputy Minister of Roads; Dr Abass Awolu, Chief Director of the Ministry; Mr Christian Nti, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Highways Authority (GHA); Mr Roosevelt Otu, Director, Department of Feeder Roads and other directors of the GHA and officials of the Urban Roads.
Also present were Mr Clement Wilkinson, Municipal Chief Executive of Ga West, Mr Seth Kwame Acheampong, Eastern Regional Minister and Madam Josephine Awuku Nkum, District Chief Executive for Ayensuanu in the Eastern Region.
The 23km Dome-Kitase road project, starts from the Dome Roundabout in the Greater Accra Region and ends at Kitase, near Peduase in the Eastern Region.
It comprises the construction of a 16.3km two-lane single carriageway with asphaltic concrete surfacing, the provision of 2.8km asphaltic concrete surfacing dual carriageway arterial with auxiliary lanes on both sides for drop off/pick up and the provision of a one-km two-lane single carriageway for Ashesi University, also with asphaltic concrete surfacing.
Funded by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) and the government, the project, when completed would provide an alternative route to road users between Accra and Aburi.
Mr Amoako-Attah, the Minister of Roads and Highways commended the contractor for the work done in such a short period of time.
“I like what I have seen and from the quiet briefings that I have had with my engineers from my Ministry up to the level of the Chief Director, they have the technical eye and they tell me that the construction is according to specifications and so, I am happy, ”he said.
The Minister also inspected ongoing works on the Ofankor-Nsawam road.
GNA