Tema Motorway: Parliament approves $338m for reconstruction

Ghana’s Parliament has approved a 338 million USD loan to reconstruct the Accra – Tema Motorway. The project which covers the 19.5-kilometre road includes other accessible roads bringing the total to 27.7 kilometres.

Commenting on the project, the Finance Committee Vice Chairman, Patrick Boamah said the project’s scope was more than the main road. He said due to the expanded scope, the work could last up to three years.

Explaining the scope of work further, he said,  “The Accra-Tema motorway alone is 19.5 kilometres, but this project is 27.7 kilometres, so one may ask, where are you getting the remainder from? The entire project is divided into three sections.

“The first section is the Accra-Tema Motorway, which is 19.5 kilometres, and it is going to be the rehabilitation and expansion of a minimum of 10 lanes on the motorway… Then, the second section is N1, the George Walker Bush highway, and the scope is 5.7 kilometres.

“Then the third scope is the Nsawam road, rehabilitation of the existing six lanes on the Nsawam road,” he noted.

The approval of the loan for the reconstruction would breathe new freshness and life into the road opened over 50 years ago by Ghana’s first president Dr Kwame Nkrumah. Decorated with potholes, the road which sees daily traffic in huge numbers has become a deathrap at some points despite numerous rehabilitation exercises.