Pokuase Interchange to be completed on schedule: Minister assured

The 60 million dollars project, when completed in October this year, is expected to ease traffic on the Ofankor-Pokusae-Amasaman axis of the Accra-Kumasi highway.

This was made known when the Minister for Roads and Highways, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Atta, inspected a number of ongoing roads works in the country.

The Pokuase Interchange project, funded by the African Development Bank, was presently 50 per cent completed, according to Mr Kwabena Bempong, Associate Vice President of Associated Consultants Limited and consulting company for the project.

Earlier, the minister and his team inspected the Tema Motorway Roundabout Interchange project.

The minister received briefing that the $57 million project will be completed on schedule barring any last-minute hitch.

Mr Yujin Uemura, the Project Manager, Shimizu-Dai Nippon JV, who briefed the minister, said 91 per cent of work was complete, with minor construction works such as drains and asphalting of inner roads about to start.

He said: “As at the end of January, the overall progress is about 91 per cent and then our schedule is about 90 per cent complete so we are almost on track, and our completion date is this year 6th of June, so under four months to go, we will make sure to complete by that date without any hitch.

The main work is the remaining of the road works and we are going to start the remaining of the asphalt works soon.”

From Tema, the minister and his team inspected the progress of work on the LEKMA road. He charged the contracted to speed up the progress of work on the road. He also expressed concern that the dusty road was affecting operations around the LEKMA Hospital.

The minister and his team also inspected the Ofankor to Nsawam stretch, Kwafokrom and Apedwa roads.

Briefing the media after the inspection tour, the minister expressed satisfaction at the progress of work.

He also urged the contractors not to handover defective projects to the government, citing the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, which floods anytime it rains.

“When you look at some of our interchanges, for instance, the Kwame Nkrumah interchange, they experience flooding whenever it rains and so extra works were done to prevent the occurrences, therefore whatever it is, we must avoid the same thing happening here when the project is finally handed over to government,” he said.