
Parliament has approved €230 million loan agreement for the construction of a 3.0km bridge across the Afram River, which will link the Kwahu South municipality to the Afram Plains in the Eastern Region.
The credit facility is an agreement between the government and the Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, which will also finance the construction of service lands and walkway over the Afram River from Adawso to Ekyi Amanfrom.
The project areas include Kwahu Afram Plains North and South districts and Kwahu South Municipality, which are in close proximity of the Sekyere Afram Plains in the Ashanti Region.
Presenting the report on the agreement, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Kwaku Kwarteng, told Parliament that the project has a fixed term duration of 30 months (two years and six months). When completed, the project will foster internal and regional integration.
He said communities in Afram Plains have great potential to contribute significantly to food security through the significant supply of farm produce.
Other projects
He said the bridge project also includes the construction of facilities for weighing, police post, ambulance station and other ancillary facilities.
Other project interventions to be catered for by the Atradius Credit Facility include the road between Adawso and Bunso on the N6, approximately 128km, linking the Afram Plains with the commercial, administrative, health and educational centres in the region, and also boosting the agriculture sector in the Afram basin.
Deprived community
Mr. Kwarteng noted that inhabitants of the districts are often almost cut-off from the rest of the country due to limited physical access on three sides of the Afram River.
He also lamented the lack of connecting roads to other parts of the country, leaving the ferry as the only means of transport.
He stated that the project will propel “greater access to employment opportunities, educational and health facilities, agricultural development, social inclusion and networking by directly or indirectly, benefitting approximately 67,260 households in the catchment area”.
“The project intervention will support the structural transformation that Ghana is undergoing as it moves beyond lower-middle-income status by facilitating the movement of people, goods and services, thereby, increasing the tempo of economic activities in the project districts”, he said.
Politicising the project
Meanwhile, the NDC MP for Sekyere Afram Plains, Alex Adomako-Mensah, who is a member of the Finance Committee, claims there is no physical benefit of the project, especially road link to the people of Sekyere Afram Plains.
Reacting to the claims, the NDC MP for Afram Plains South, Joseph Appiah Boateng, whose constituency is the main beneficiary of the project, rebuked him when he took time to contribute to the motion at hand.
He told the House that this was the time to commend the government for “such a bold initiative” which is going to inure to the benefit of the people of Afram Plains and nearby communities.
“Government has done well for Afram Plains. When it comes to a point like this, we don’t have to politicise it because, across the political spectrum, we have to know that government is doing well,” he noted.
While lamenting the lack of social amenities like roads, good drinking water, electricity, mobile network connectivity, among others, in the area, he commended the government for initiating such a project to ease their burden.
Game changer
For his party, the Majority Chief Whip and MP for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, told Parliament that the Afram Plains area is, indeed, the food basket of the country, aside the Northern Region.
“This project is seeking to transform the agricultural lives of the people not only in the Afram region but other adjourning areas. Let all members support this audacious, important project which is going to be the game changer,” he urged.
According to him, President Nana Akufo-Add, as flagbearer of the NPP during the 2016 electioneering campaign, had promised the people in Afram Plains that he would ensure the construction of a bridge over the Afram River to help abate the frustrations and difficulties they faced.
He also described the initiative as a “fulfilled promise”, which would pave way for the progress of the communities in the enclave.