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Work on Aburi Mountain falling rocks stalls

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General News of Friday, 14 July 2017

Source: Graphic.com.gh

2017-07-14

Abu RiPartly completed portions of the work

Repair works on the Ayi Mensah-Peduase portion of the Accra-Aburi road, which began last year, has stalled.

When a Daily Graphic team visited the site last Monday, there were no workers on site, neither were there any equipment.

However, one side of the dual carriageway, which is close to where the repair works are taking place, remain closed to traffic.

Last year, the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) closed one side of the road following complaints from motorists that falling rocks from precipices of the road posed a danger to them.

Contractor

The Daily Graphic team saw that the contractor for the project, CST Limited, had evacuated its equipment and left some pieces of metals on the side closed to traffic.

According to some men who claimed to have been tasked to ensure that no vehicle used the dangerous portion of the road, the works had been deferred because of shortage of materials and rainfall.

They also claimed the project had stopped for about a month and half.

Background

The contract was awarded to CST Ltd to undertake repair works but since it started work on January 15, 2016, the company has done only 26 per cent of the work as of November 30, 2016, even though it was expected to complete the entire project by January this year.

Estimated at GH¢12 million, the project includes putting a steel mesh over the slope to be held by anchor bolts.

Some motorists told the Daily Graphic team they had also observed that the closure of a portion of the road to traffic was resulting in vehicular traffic, especially during rush hours.

Murmuring and complaining

Some residents and commuters also complained that the delay in completing the project was affecting their business activities on a daily basis.

“I have to wake up at about 4 a.m. so that I can arrive in Accra early because vehicles have to share the single lane road. I sometimes spend about two hours before I’m able to cross the tollbooth to Accra. This is frustrating,” a frustrated motorist, Erica Bempah, said.

A resident at Ayi Mensah, Mr Emmanuel Tawiah, said he had no idea about why the project had stopped.

“We woke up one morning and realised that the machines had been moved from the site and when we asked we were told the materials for the project had finished,” he said.

Government response

A Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Anthony Karbo, told an Accra-based radio station, Joy FM, that work on the project would resume in August.

He said the government had been meeting with the contractor in an effort to provide what was needed for work to resume.

“The urgency with which this contract has to be executed has not been witnessed over the last few months. The sector Minister, Mr Amoako Attah met with the contractor and resident engineer to fix irreconcilable differences in the scope of work and some certificates of payments,” Mr Karbo said.

According to him, the issue was before the Road Fund for consideration and payment for the project to continue.

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