The Minister of Roads and Highways, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has tasked Maripoma Enterprise Limited with accelerating work on the Tema Motorway project and completing it by 2027 to reduce the prolonged travel times faced by commuters.
Mr Agbodza said the contractor must increase activity on the project and consider working around the clock, particularly carrying out disruptive construction activities at night when traffic is lighter.
He made the call on Wednesday, August 19, during an inspection of some government’s Big Push road projects in the Greater Accra Region.
The Tema Motorway is a key transport link between the Tema Port and other parts of the country, and the ongoing works have affected traffic movement along the busy stretch.
Mr Agbodza acknowledged improvements since his previous visit but said the pace of work needed to increase further.
“It appears you have done about 10% extra work since we were here the last time,” he told the contractor.
He also commended Maripoma for completing a major bridge on the project ahead of schedule and without any incident, despite the fact that the intersection remained in use throughout construction.
“The main bridge not far from where we are standing has also been completed without any incidents,” he said.
“My fear actually has always been the risk to the public because it’s an intersection that is in use 24/7.”
According to the Minister, the successful completion of the bridge demonstrated that the contractor could work quickly without compromising public safety.
He, however, urged the company to increase activity further and take advantage of the government’s 24-hour economy policy.
“A project like this elsewhere will be done 24/7. There’s no reason why you cannot work even more at night than the day,” he said.
Mr Agbodza suggested that the contractor should carry out more disruptive construction activities at night and reduce such activities during the day to minimise the impact on motorists.
“So I’m encouraging you to take advantage of the President’s 24-hour economy to do more of the disruptive works in the night and rather scale down during the day and make certain or dedicated lanes available for the public to use during the day,” he said.
He said meeting the completion target was particularly important because of the inconvenience motorists have endured during the construction period.
“We are hopeful that you can complete this on schedule because the motoring public can’t understand why they have to go through this for that long period,” Mr Agbodza said.
“So please endeavour to make sure that we meet the target.”
The Minister also disclosed that the government had paid more than GH¢23 billion to road contractors, with a significant portion going towards inherited arrears.
He said the payments were part of efforts to clear outstanding debts and enable contractors to resume and accelerate work on road projects across the country.
“Government has paid over 23 billion so far on roads. And the bulk of that is arrears,” Mr Agbodza said.
He cited the Ofankor project as an example, saying the government inherited an outstanding debt of GH¢78 million on the project and had since paid it.
“When we inherited it, there was an outstanding debt of 78 million, which we paid,” he said.
Mr Agbodza described the GH¢23 billion payment as a significant commitment to the road sector and said Ghanaians expected to see tangible results from the spending.
“So the 23 billion is a lot of money to be paid to road contractors. It’s the largest payment on capital expenditure from government,” he said.
“The Ghanaian public is demanding to see what we are spending the money on.”
He said the government expected the impact of the expenditure to be clear by the end of 2027.
“We believe by the end of 2027, it will be obvious to everybody what we spent the money on,” he said.
He therefore challenged contractors to deliver projects that would justify the government’s investment.
“And we are counting on you to be able to make the public proud of what we are doing as Ghanaians,” he told the contractors.
Mr Agbodza also responded to concerns over the scale of government spending on roads, stressing that road infrastructure was only one part of the country’s financial obligations.
He said the government could not commit all available funds to roads because it also had to finance other critical sectors, including health and education, as well as salaries and debt obligations.
He said the government had also made significant payments in other areas, including a further GH¢10 billion payment to the DDEP programme.
“We can’t spend all the money in the country on roads because the other sectors, health, education, and everything, salaries that needed to be paid,” he said.
Mr Agbodza said the government was committed to meeting its financial obligations while continuing with infrastructure projects.
“We are not going to default on our debt. We are going to pay,” he said.
He added that the government would continue to implement its infrastructure commitments while managing the country’s finances.