Hon. Linda Akweley Ocloo, minister of the Greater Accra region and member of Parliament Shai-Osudoko constituency, made a site visit to the Asutuare road contract under construction, where she confirmed the project’s official name as the Eastern Corridor Road Development Project Phase 1. The African Development Bank-funded project, which began in December 2024, will go a long way in boosting transportation infrastructure in the area.
On her tour, which was to Volivo and Tokpo, Hon. Linda Akweley Ocloo’s biggest concern was the payment of fair compensation to constituents whose properties and farms have been devastated due to the road construction. She was concerned that so far, only 71 out of 221 affected farmers have received their compensation. “My priority is to make sure that those lands which have been taken and properties destroyed, the people are compensated,” she undertook to follow up personally to speed up the pending settlements and have them cleared in good time.
Besides remuneration, Hon. Linda Akweley Ocloo also called for the creation of local jobs. She called on the contractor to give priority to employment from the constituency at a minimum of 30% local labor force participation. “I also want to include the workers…ensure that the workers, at least 30% are from their constituencies so that they can also gain,” she further stated. The regional minister promised to meet her constituents face-to-face to ensure this vow is being fulfilled.
Apart from the Asutuare road development project, Hon. Ocloo also presented the necessity for additional road development in her constituency on a matter of urgency. She cited a number of priority roads, including ones going from Dodowa to the project site, and the Doryumu, Kordiabe, Ashiaman, Ramatown, and Afienya roads. “We have so many roads that we need to develop,” she said, promising to urge roads and highways authorities to attend to these urgent infrastructure necessities.
Samuel Affel, the contract engineer representing the consultants for the project, presented an overview of the road project. Section 4, from Asutuare to Aveyime, measures 23.9 kilometers, and Section 3, from Adidome to Asikuma Junction, measures 39.2 kilometers. The road will be made up of sub-base, mechanically stabilized sub-base, base, and two-layer bitumen surface dressing. Ancillary works involve rehabilitation of schools, hospitals, and market centers along the project route.
The $53-million project, according to Affel, will be finished by December 2026. As much as 1% of the work was done up to the tour, most of it being site clearing and filling. He also addressed concerns about the possible interference with farming canals of the locality, referencing the fact that the situation has been analyzed by engineers and they are certain that construction will not impede their use. The initial issue, he continued, was the compensation of farmers for land clearing, which is being addressed to enable the project to move forward without any hitches.
Story By: David Gunshot
