The conception, construction and commissioning of projects in Ghana has become a subject of unending debate and controversy between the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in recent times.
Both parties while in government or opposition have failed to recognise and appreciate projects started from one political party to the other.
Such debates and failure to recognise and appreciate the efforts of one government to the other have often left ordinary Ghanaians in the dark as to the real facts behind projects that transcends from one political party to the other.
One such project that has begun to generate such debate and controversy is the newly constructed Tema motorway roundabout as social media was over the weekend awash with both NDC and NPP fanatics claiming their political parties should be praised for the 57 million United States Dollars (USD) project being financed under a grant from the Japanese government under its Japanese International Cooperation Agreement (JICA).
Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr. has set the records straight on the debate.
Find below Mr. Baako’s piece on the Tema Motorway Interchange Project:
Abdul Malik Kweku Baako writes;
My take on the conception and construction trajectory of the Tema Roundabout Project.
(1): The bare facts first: The Project For Improvement Of Ghanaian International Corridors (Grade Separation Of Tema Intersection In Tema) was/is part of the “NATIONAL TRANSPORT POLICY of expanding and upgrading the international corridors to achieve integrated, efficient and sustainable transport system, and strengthen the function of the country as the transport hub of the West African region”(Source: Ministry of Roads & Highways).
(2): In 2013, the Government of Ghana(GoG) (Mahama Administration) made a request to the Government of Japan(GoJ) for a Grant Aid Assistance to implement “The Project for the Tema Motorway Roundabout (Project )”.
(3): In March 2015, the Government of Japan(GoJ) , acting through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency(JICA) engaged the services of CTI Engineering International Co. Ltd. for the Survey for the development of an interchange; design options of interchanges; tendering for the selection of Contractor to execute the works and the supervision of the works.
(4): Survey and Detailed designs were undertaken between March 2015 and December 2016. The Final Report was submitted to the Ministry of Roads and Highways for review and approval in January/February 2017. After the review of several options of interchange designs and taking into consideration the cost and ease of construction, the Compact Diamond Intersection Type, a three-tier intersection which comprises an underpass and overpass seperated by an At-Grade Signalized Intersection as the second tier, was selected and approved.
(5): In March 2017, the Exchange of Notes/Grant Agreement for the Improvement of Ghanaian International Corridors(Grade Separation of Tema Intersection in Tema) was signed.
(6): In December 2017, the Contract for the execution of the works was signed between the Government of Ghana(GoG), the Ministry of Roads and Highways (MRH) and Shimizu-Dai Nippon JV.
(7): Commencement of the works on site began in February 2018. Duration of the works was 28 calendar months. Defect notification period is 12 months.
(8): The cost of the Project was/is 6 billion Japanese Yen.
PS: The above history of the conception and construction trajectory of the Tema Motorway Roundabout Project shows that the seeds were sown during and by the Mahama Administration, subsequently fertilized and eventually born/birthed by the Akufo-Addo Administration! A factual account of the genesis, evolution and completion of the project under reference; similar to the path followed by the Eurojet hospitals project some of which are still at different stages of construction and completion following the Cabinet and Parliamentary approvals of October and November 2008!
By Francis Tandoh || ghananewsonline.com.gh