Ing. Kwabena Bempong, the resident engineer for the Ofankor-Nsawam road project has revealed construction work on the stalled Ofankor-Nsawam road project will resume on April 7, 2025.
According to him, now that funds have started flowing there will be continuous work.
He further noted that some nine more months will be needed to complete.
Speaking to Citi News, Ing. Bempong stated, “Now that funds have started flowing, we expect that there will be continuous work and if there is continuous work, even if we give him probably another eight, nine months after the July deadline, he should be able to complete the work.
Because as I have always maintained, the heavy lifting has been done. The bridges, apart from the Nsawam Bridge, most of them are over 90 per cent complete. And so from Monday, we should see the contractor back on site.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Roads and Highways had earlier revealed about 80 lawsuits preventing the completion of the Ofankor-Nsawam road.
According to the Ministry of Roads and Highways, the Ofankor-Nsawam road last year was facing over 100 court cases which was stalling the project.
The ministry asserted that the over 100 cases, about 20 of them have been cleared.
The Ofankor-Nsawam road was scheduled for completion in July 2024 but is now facing an uncertain timeline for completion due to the court cases.
Reports suggest that Property owners around the Ofankor-Nsawam road are challenging the demolition of their property or requesting compensation.
The Ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Nasir Ahmad Yartey speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show revealed, “The major challenge on that road [Ofankor-Nsawam] has to do with court issues. Somewhere last year, we had over 100 court cases that had to do with the project and we have been able to clear about 20 of them as I speak to you, between Amasaman and Nsawam, there are about 80 of them and these courts cases does not allow the contractor the right of way to work.
“We cannot take the law into our own hands if we need to demolish a particular property and the owner is litigating it in court, there is little you can do”, he added.
The traffic congestion on the Ofankor-Nsawam has worsened with the delay of the project completion.
The $350 million Ofankor-Nsawam road project expansion and rehabilitation was aimed at improving transportation on the Accra-Kumasi road.
Several residents and commuters have been left frustrated over the delay in the completion of the project and have called on the government to expedite the process to allow contractors to resume work.
