Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has noted that the Akufo-Addo government has focused on delivering the best value for money for all its projects, as it pursues an inclusive infrastructure development for all.
Speaking at a virtual Government Town Hall Meeting and Results Fair in Accra yesterday, to showcase the NPP’s achievement in infrastructure, Dr Bawumia disclosed staggering disparities in the value of similar projects undertaken by the erstwhile Mahama government and current projects by the Akufo-Addo government.
Using a combination of film, charts, tables and data to support his claim, Dr Bawumia disclosed that while the Akufo-Addo government is constructing four major interchanges at Tema, Pokuase, Tamale and Obetsebi Lamptey Circle at a cost of $289m, the Mahama administration built the Kwame Nkrumah interchange alone at a cost of $260m.
Interchanges
For the Pokuase interchange, which is about 75 per cent complete, Dr Bawumia explained that the loan agreement for the project was signed in November 2016 for a three-tier interchange, but the Akufo-Addo government renegotiated for a four-tier interchange without any increase in cost.
Another major interchange, which the NPP government is building in its first term, is the Tamale interchange. The Tamale interchange, the first ever interchange in the northern sector of the country, is 44 per cent complete, and is expected to be fully operational by the middle of 2021.
Last week, Vice-President Bawumia cut sod for the construction of another three-tier interchange at Nungua Barrier as part of the construction of the Accra-Tema beach road.
He has also announced that, next month, a sod will be cut for the construction of an interchange at PTC in Takoradi.
Apart from the value for money comparison in the road sector, analysts have also raised eyebrows on disparities in the cost of hospitals the current government is building and those built under Mahama.
While the Akufo-Addo government recently cut sod for the construction of the 600-bed Eastern Regional hospital at a cost of €70m Euro, the Mahama government rehabilitated the Ridge hospital at a cost of $220m.
Unmatched achievement
The Vice-President further indicated that the government is focused on “providing infrastructure for all”, saying as a result, “about 17,334 individual projects have been started since January 2017.”
“We have completed a total number of 8746 projects throughout the country. A further 8588 projects are at different stages of completion throughout the country,” he stated.
Dr Bawumia added that the investment in infrastructure by the NPP government over the last three years has been massive.
“I dare say our investment in infrastructure, our infrastructure record, is second to none for any government in its first term under the Fourth Republic,” he stated.
“Notwithstanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the completion times of some projects, the data indicates that in the fourth republic, no government has achieved as much in its first term of office in terms of infrastructure projects it initiated in as the NPP government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,” he added.
The Vice-President used the opportunity to enumerate infrastructural achievements of the Akufo-Addo administration in different sectors, including roads, agriculture, health, water and sanitation, among others.
Source: Daily Statesman
