The Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, has indicated that the government is making efforts to replace deteriorated bridges in the country to “open up communities which hitherto were cut off due to water crossing points.”
He said already, 50 Czech steel bridges with a total span of 1,500 metres secured through Messrs Knights A/S were being fixed across the country.
Of the 50 bridges which were provided through support from the Czech government, 34 had been launched while 10 were substantially completed and ready for use.
The 10 include the Okwenya and Community 12 bridges.
This came to light when the minister led a delegation to the Czech Republic at the invitation of Messrs Knights A/S to discuss the progress of the installation of 50 steel bridges in Ghana by Knights A/S, funded with a Czech export credit facility.
The Roads and Highways Minister is also in the Czech Republic to negotiate for an additional 100 steel bridges.
Mr Amoako-Attah mentioned some of the substantially completed bridges to include the bridge over the stream at Taifa-Dome in the Greater Accra Region, the bridge over the Okurudu Stream at Kpormettey in the Central Region and the bridge over the Birim River on the Akim Mampong-Adasawase road in the Eastern Region.
Others are the bridge on the Kokoso-Bohyen road in the Ashanti Region, as well as the bridge over the Kamba River on the Sentu-Girigan-Kpari road in the Upper West Region.
The minister said the bridges would help reduce travel time and make the movement of people from local communities easier, as well as remove traffic bottlenecks at river crossings and contribute to the growth of the agricultural sector.
“The additional 100 bridges, when secured, will be used on feeder roads across the country to help improve accessibility in farming communities and also replace some existing steel bridges that have deteriorated over the years,” the minister said.
Delegation
Mr Amoako-Attah was accompanied by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Dr Abass Mohammed Awolu; Ghana’s Ambassador to the Czech Republic, James Nyasembi; the Deputy Ambassador, Ahmad Tijani Abubakari; the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Knights, Lanka Laryea; the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Knights A/S, Dr Karl Laryea, and other officials from the Ghana Embassy in the Czech Republic.
As part of the three-day working visit to the Czech Republic, Mr Amoako-Attah also held bilateral meetings with officials of ČSOB Bank, EGAP (Czech insurance company), Raiffeisen Bank, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Transport, Trade and Industry of that country.
Cordial relations
During the meetings, Mr Amoako-Attah eulogised the cordial relations between Ghana and the Czech Republic which date back to 1959 as well as the role Czech investment had played in the economic development of Ghana.
He particularly underscored the critical role of steel bridges in complementing the development of road infrastructure in Ghana.
While informing them of the positive outcome of Ghana’s negotiations with the IMF, the minister appealed for more support in the supply of steel bridges.
Satisfaction
For his part, the CEO of EGAP, Dr David Havelicek, expressed satisfaction with the progress Knights A/S had made in the installation of 50 steel bridges in Ghana and assured the minister of his company’s support.
Contract agreements for the design, supply and installation, and related civil works for 50 composite bridges and for the financing of the project were signed by the government, Knights A/S and the Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Bank on April 2, 2019.
The Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic, Martin Kupka, also invited Mr Amoako-Attah to the World Road and Road Transport Conference to be held in Prague, Czech Republic, in October this year.
