Engineer Kwabena Bempong, overseeing the Pokuase-Nsawam Highway project, has revealed that the construction completion originally set for July 2024 will be delayed and extended.
He explained that the remaining extensive work makes meeting the initial deadline impossible. Bempong informed Bernard Avle on Citi FM that while the July deadline won’t be met, the contractor has not yet provided a new completion date.
“We have requested the contractor to give us a revised programme and obviously for a project like this, we need to have an extension of time approved by the Ministry of Roads and Highways and until that, we cannot say anything.
“So far as we are concerned, the completion date is July but we all know that it is not possible so the contractor will have to give us compelling reasons why it is not possible to complete it [the project] on the date that was originally scheduled.”
According to Ing. Bempong, the project’s compensation for impacted parties and the relocation of utility lines are to blame for the delay.
He added:
“Relocation of utility lines and longitudinal drains are some of the major reasons the project has been delayed. We are relocating electricity, water and communication lines.
“The other challenge is the relocation of people affected by the project. There are people who are trying to injunct the project and we still have litigations. We are two years into the project and we still have some of the utility lines in the road space.”
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