Twenty five of the 50 bridges being constructed under an agreement between the governments of Ghana and the Czech Republic will be handed over to the ministry of Roads and Highways by the end of March this year.
When completed, the project is expected to enhance the daily activities of residents who are currently facing difficulties in commuting from one place to another.
The Project Manager for Knights Ghana Limited – the subsidiary company of Knights a.s of the Czech Republic, Mr. Solomon Andoh – made this known when a Czech delegation visited the Tema bridge site to inspect ongoing works.
The delegation was led by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Martin Tlapa, and Czech Ambassador to Ghana, Jan Fury.
Background
In 2007, Knights a.s. of the Czech Republic signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Transportation to provide the government of Ghana with 200 Composite Modular Steel Bridges ranging from 20metre span to 50metre span.
In April 2019, Knights a.s. finally signed the Contract Agreement with the Ministry of Roads and Highways for 50 No. of bridges, being the first tranche of 200 bridges to be executed.
On the same day, a Czech Republic bank, Ceskoslovenska Obchodni banka, a.s. signed the project Loan Agreement with the Ministry of Finance.
Work on the various bridge projects started in June 2020 and is scheduled to be completed in 2022.
Tema Project update
Throwing light on the project, Mr. Andoh said ongoing work at Tema Community 12 in the Greater Accra Region is 80 percent complete.
When completed, he explained, the project will create a third access route to Tema from Accra, making it easier for residents in Tema Community 11 and 12 to travel to Accra within a short period of time.
According to Mr. Andoh, the distance from Tema Community 11 and 12 to Accra will be 16 kilometres shorter when the bridge is completed.
On the other bridge projects, Mr. Andoh said work has begun and the company is on schedule to finish and hand them over to the Ministry of Roads and Highways for public use.
He mentioned that the sites at Okwenya, Akuse in the Eastern Region, Okrudu at Kasoa in the Central Region as well as Weija in the Greater-Accra Region are all at various stages of completion.
Czech Republic impressed
In his interaction with Knight officials at the site, the Head of Czech Trade Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Czech Republic, Mr. Martin Tlapa – who is in Ghana for a bilateral negotiations of trade related activities, said the delegation wanted to see the progress of work being executed by Knights a.s. of the Czech Republic.
He said the bilateral relationship between Ghana and Czech Republic is strong, and expressed hope that more projects can be embarked upon by the two countries.
On his part, the Czech Republic Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Jan Fury, said he had the opportunity to meet with the Minister for Roads and Highways, Mr. Kwesi Amoako-Atta, last year, and that the minister expressed his satisfaction with the quality of work being executed by Knights a.s. of the Czech Republic.
He said the Minister of Roads and Highways also assured him of the ministry’s willingness to continue with 100 No. of the bridges this year, which will be the second and third tranches of the project.
