The Ministry for Roads and Highways has given two excavator-hiring firms, operating on the shoulders of the Motorway a two-week ultimatum to relocate.
According to the Ministry, the operations of the two companies, Atpage Limited and Ottis Equipment Company, are impeding the construction of the second tunnel connecting East Legon and Spintex.
[contextly_sidebar id=”HAWow4nlJisX232D5cm17TDK5UY0n83E”]The Deputy Roads and Highways Minister, Anthony Abayifa Karbo confirmed in an interview with Citi News, that the Minister had directed that the excavators be moved in “two weeks, by which time one side would have been done for the contractor to move to the other.”
He stated that the presence of the excavators on the site was hindering the work of the contractors, adding that the directive was necessary despite discussions between the owners of the companies, the contractors and officials of the Highway Authority.
“Our understanding is that the [owners of the companies] have been written to, there have been series of discussions between the Ghana Highway Authority and the owners of the heavy-duty machines. We came to inspect and it appears the contractors themselves have also had their discussions with them in respect of their work plan,” he said.
“That section needs to be cleared, those machines need to be moved to allow the contractor have access to the place and also begin the same works he’s doing on the other side of the road.”
Anthony Karbo, who is also the Member of Parliament for Lawra, expressed worry that further delays would result in added expenses which would inflate the original cost of the contract.
“One person was providing difficulties for us and we had to go and reasonably engage them to understand that any delay will affect the cost of the project and contractors will not hesitate to add delay payments to the cost of projects and equipment,” he stated.
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By: Edwin Kwakofi & Philip Nii Lartey/citifmonline.com/Ghana