Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah, the Minister of Roads and Highways, on Monday, said he was satisfied with the progress of work being done by contractors on the Madina-Adenta footbridges.
He said despite the challenges encountered during the start of the project it was going on smoothly and expressed the optimism that the bridges would be completed as scheduled.
Mr Amoako-Attah, who was speaking to the media on Monday, after touring the six footbridges on the Madina –Adenta stretch said out of the six footbridges one had been completed was been used by pedestrians.
While acknowledging delays by some contractors, he said the circumstances leading to the delays were unfortunate and gave the assurance that the contractor would deliver.
“The rest of the five bridges are nearing completion, and on the average, they have achieved about 98 per cent completion. They are left with minor works to bring all of them to total completion before they are handed to us. I have been assured by all of them that by the end of this month all the six will be ready for use,” he said.
“I am happy generally with the contractors who are working on this project. They have done a lot of work”, the Minister added.
He said in order to ensure safety on the bridges; the ministry was working in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport to provide lighting and other safety measures.
“I have directed that lighting be provided on the bridge itself and all the walkways to improve safety. It is not part of the original scope of work but as we move to the closing chapters of this work it has become necessary”, he explained.
The minister cautioned the public against posting advertising materials on the bridges upon their completion since that could compromise safety.
“I think advertising on such facilities compromises safety because drivers approaching them will be tempted to read these inscriptions. Why should we use footbridges for advertising,” he quizzed.
“We are therefore going to take actions on this and there will be an official directive that will ensure that anyone who flouts these directives is dealt with to serve as a deterrent”, he added.
He also urged the public, especially pedestrians to patronize the completed bridges as they wait for the completion of the others to avoid unforeseeable circumstance.
Source: ghananewsagency.org
