The closure of the bridges has created untold hardship in the movement of goods and people over the Black Volta.

During parliamentary proceedings on Tuesday, the Minority Leader, Haruna Idrissu, said the Minister must brief the house about contingency arrangements made for travelers who will be affected by the closure of the bridges.

[contextly_sidebar id=”JPeztMoUnkPeqWor624326jpJx57qX1M”]“The closure of the two bridges at Yapei and Buipe has affected the movement of goods and passengers resulting in some untold hardship. We want to invite the Minister for Roads to further brief this house about what contingency measures they put in place before the announcement of the closure, and what he is doing to ameliorate the suffering of the many persons who want to travel from the North to the South,” he said.

The speaker subsequently directed the Minister to appear before the house over the matter.

The temporary closure of the Buipe and Yapei bridges in the Central Gonja District of the Northern Region is affecting socioeconomic activities in the area and beyond.

Roads and Highways Minister, Kwasi Amoako Atta, ordered the temporary measure for routine maintenance ahead of the Christmas season.

The Minister earlier in a Citi News interview posited that the two bridges were near collapse, hence the closure.

He estimated that the rehabilitation works would last for four weeks, and proposed that motorists should use the Eastern Corridor, Fufulso-Sawla and Central routes as alternatives.

The rehabilitation alone is to cost the state some Ghc4 million.

Since the closure, motorists from the Sahel and Northern and Upper East Regions have been stranded at the bridges site due to the long hours they have to spend waiting to cross.

Passengers in long vehicles are compelled to get down and walk across the bridge to continue the journey in standby buses at the other end.

Meanwhile, the construction of the Daboya bridge along that of Buipe and Yapei, will begin in 2018. Each of the three new bridges is estimated at 25 million US dollars.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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President Alhassan Ouattara is expected to arrive in Ghana for bilateral discussions with President Nana Akufo-Addo.

The roads to be affected by the closures are the Kwame  Nkrumah Avenue towards the Central Business District, Liberation Road towards Central Business District, and the Atta Mills Highway from James Town towards Osu.

The roads will be closed from 11: 00 am and reopened after a scheduled ceremonial procession.

The police will be assisting motorists on alternative routes.

The visit by the Ivorian President comes barely a month after Ghana emerged victorious in a maritime dispute with Ivory Coast at the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Germany.

The two countries have already accepted the decision of ITLOS, and have agreed to work towards implementing the ruling.

Find below a statement from the police

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By: Caleb Kudah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Police to close specific roads for Ivorian President’s visit appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The programme was also attended by 4,500 invited guests at the Mandela Amphitheatre, while 20,000 other invited guests were confined in the Union Buildings of the Presidency at Pretoria.

Also in attendance were; Asantehene Osei Tutu II, King of the Ashanti Kingdom in Ghana, members of the Diplomatic Corps, representatives of various international organisations among other important dignitaries.

Members of the South African council churches, the Islamic Clerics and other religious Faith in the Southern African country were allso fully represented.

President Zuma was re-elected as President of South Africa following his ANC party resounding victory in the May 7, election inspite of the breaking away of the Economic Freedom Fighters members led by Julius Malema from the ANC this year.

The Tennis Lawns of the Union Buildings were inundated with entertainment from popular musical artistes to herald in a night long concert that would also mark 20 years of democratic governance in the Southern African country.

President Zuma is the third African National Congress President in South Africa after previously serving as a Vice President to President Thambo Mbeki from the same political party.

The other past presidents of the ANC are Nelson Mandela who began the journey after coming from prisons to become the first Black President of South Africa and was succeeded by Mr Thambo Mbeki after the famous one term of meritorious service to the people.

The ceremony was also marked by musketry and aircraft formation displays to entertain the teeming Guests at both the 4,500 capacity and 2,0000 capacity Nelson Mandela Amphitheatre and the Union Buildings respectively.

After administering the oath of office in the rapturous Nelson Mandela Amphitheatre, President Zuma gave the assurance that his administration would continue to work tirelessly to ensure better living conditions for all South Africans especially the marginalized poor.

He said giving where the country came from in the face of racial discrimination to democracy; there was the need for more policies and programmes that would make society comfortable.

President Zuma mentioned some of the policies as community development with basic amenities such as health, education, adequate nutrition, economic transformation with high level public transport, water and electricity to every community in the country.

He said broad- based industrialization would also become the hallmark of his economic transformation programme, where more jobs would be created and reduce importation of basic goods and services in the coming years.

The Southern African President outlined the infrastructural development programme and support to private enterprises as some of the measures his administration would adopt in economic transformation.

By 2030, the President promised South Africa would become self- reliant by eradicating corruption and increasing accountable measures that would discourage perpetrators of the canker.

On Regional integration, President Zuma said his government would promote nation- building programmes that would ensure unity, reconciliation, tolerance and embrace democracy to sustain the rule of law, peace and development.

He promised to champion intra-African trade, regional integration, continental and global deliberations that would unite the continent and beyond.

Source: GNA

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