The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, has disclosed that the government has completed bitumen surfacing of 220.29 kilometres (km) of roads in the region since 2017.
He noted that this includes 127.6 kilometres of highways, 63.70 kilometres of feeder roads and 28.99 kilometres of urban roads.
The Minister made this assertion on Sunday when he took his turn to deliver the state of the region report in the area of roads, transportation, health, water and sanitation, education, as well as other major infrastructure since 2017.
He pointed out that the highways completed include the construction of Wa-Han Road (30Km), the upgrading of Nadowli-Lawra-Hamile Road (Km 0-45), and the upgrading of Nadowli-Lawra-Hamile Road (Km 45-87.6).
“Bitumen surfacing of feeder roads completed also includes Bitumen Surfacing of Jirapa-Ping Feeder Road, 24.50Km, Bitumen Surfacing of Kaleo-Sankana-Takpo Feeder Road, 12.50Km and Bitumen Surfacing of Kokoligu Junction-Hamile Feeder Road. Bitumen surfacing of urban roads completed includes the rehabilitation of selected roads in Nandom (Phase I) 18.66Km and the rehabilitation of selected roads in Lawra Municipality,” he added.
The Minister also noted that the construction of two major bridges over the Kulun and Ambalara rivers in the Wa East district had been completed.
“This is a critical investment in the roads sector in the region. These bridges are valued at about £17,428,571.42 and are opened to traffic. These bridges are critical in the region and will give relief to commuters, especially in the southeastern corridor of the region. Carting of farm produce & animals to marketing centres will also enhance as the Wa East corridor constitutes a major food basket,” he noted.
Dr Bin Salih stated that the dualization of Nandom town roads was ongoing, with the Wa-Bulenga road receiving 31 kilometres of bitumen surfacing.
“The Tumu-Han-Lawra Road (85Km) has been awarded on contracts in 5 Lots to help speed up completion in 24 months. The contracts include Mawums Co. Ltd (15Km); Aschal Investment (10Km); Maripoona (20Km); Green House International Development (15Km), and P&W Ghanem Ltd (25Km). Sites have been handed over to the contractors and some have commenced work. When completed, the transportation challenges of the North-Eastern belt of the region (which is a major food basket) will be relieved,” he added.
On education, the Minister said the government has completed 161 educational infrastructure projects in the region. These include classroom blocks, dormitories, administrative blocks and teacher resource centres.
He further noted that school buses, motorbikes and pick-up vehicles were supplied for administrative and monitoring purposes.
The Regional Minister also indicated that since the implementation of the Free SHS programme in 2017, all 35 public SHS/SHTS/TVET schools in the region have been enrolled in the programme. “So far, the programme has benefited 33,868 students in the region,” he added.
On energy, Dr Bin Salih said a 13-megawatt solar power plant had been completed at Kaleo while 4,000 streetlights were supplied and fixed to improve the lighting system in the communities across the region.
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