From Richard Kofi Attenkah.
After countless number of complaints from road users and pedestrians about the poor state of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) road leading to Kpone, and the seemingly total neglect of the stretch by the city authorities, work has finally commenced.
As a result of the poor nature of the 4.7 kilometre road, drivers, pedestrians and other road users heaped a barrage of criticisms, not only on the contractor, Core Construction Limited, but most importantly, the city authorities. However, last Saturday, the contractor started work on the road, and has so far completed the asphalt surface of a little over half a kilometre from the VALCO roundabout to the first bridge towards TOR.
If the promise of the company to continue work on the stretch this Saturday and Sunday is anything to go by, then one can conclude that by next Monday, motorists can drive on a smooth surface between the VALCO roundabout and TOR traffic lights. The journey from the VALCO roundabout to the Kpone Township, which previously took less than 15 minutes to complete, now takes over 35 minutes.
Mr. Frank Lartey, Managing Director of Core Construction Limited, in an interview with the Tema File, said the delay on the project was a result of lack of funds from the government, adding, that the banks had refused to give them more loans, as those they had already borrowed had not been paid.
He disclosed that even though the government had still not paid what it owed them, his outfit decided to look for money elsewhere to enable them complete the work. Mr. Lartey explained that because of the huge traffic on the road during working days, his outfit thought it wise to go to site on Saturdays and Sundays, when traffic is less.
He was optimistic that in the next few weeks, work on the VALCO roundabout to the TOR traffic lights, which is to be asphalted, would be completed before they come back to complete the stretch from the TOR traffic light to the VALCO junction, which is to be paved, saying about 90 percent of that job had been completed.