According to www.georgebritton.com, a contracted construction company, First Sky Construction Company Limited is expected to fork out the construction of the one of the footbridges on the N4 Highway, precisely, Madina to Adentan Highway, as work is 82% complete.
First Sky Construction Company Limited(First Sky Limited) last year signed a contractual agreement with the Ghana Highways Authority, funded and inspected by the Government of the Republic of Ghana to construct ramps to footbridges at the Adenta-Ritz Junction(CH.8+204)
The signed and documented contractual agreement comes at the back after residents of Adentan-Madina amassed in their numbers to stage an unwarranted and uncontrollable demonstration to advocate for the construction of the footbridges on N4 Highway
A total of 195 persons, including children and students, have since the beginning of this year been killed on the multiple highway with a speed limit of 100 kilometer per hour, according to the residents due primarily to the unavailability of safe crossing facilities on the road.
Lack of safety measures on the highway for pedestrians, nonfunctional street and traffic lights have been identified as the cause of most of the knockdowns on the highway constructed 11 years ago by the government.
These deaths triggered a campaign early this year for the six uncompleted footbridges as well as the street and traffic lights to be fixed but the government appeared adamant despite the cries of the residents.
Currently, the Adentan – Ritz Junction portion of the project, stretching about 9.5 km, is 92% completed with footbridge ramp, news men at georgebritton.com can undoubtedly confirm that to its readers.
The Resident Engineer, Mr Shamsu Deen Isah, told www.goergebritton.com that the projects were at different levels of development because every contractor had their individual work programme, which is within the timeframe they had been given to work.
He said a contractor may decide to complete with one side of the road before the other side while some may want to do both sides concurrently so one should not expect to see the same level of development at all sites of the projects.
Mr Shamsu revealed that, all contractors experienced some challenges, which led to the redesigning of the six projects, adding that, the levels of redesigning varied for each contractor, which partially interrupted the progress of work.
Mr Shamsu Deen Isah stated that, inasmuch as those challenges existed, all contractors would complete work as scheduled with some finishing earlier than the six months duration and others finishing right on time.
Though footbridge projects are capital intensive, government hopes to construct many more footbridge and access routes across the country. However, Good roads are essential for the development of a country. Today, the government is building more and more roads to gain access to the remotest parts of the country, which is welcome.
In spite of the phenomenal growth of virtual connectivity resulting from flourishing telecommunications, a good and reliable transport network remains key to national development.
By: Gerrard-Israel
