Kpasenkpe (N/R), Jan. 18, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursday cut the sod for the construction of a 122-metre bridge over the White Volta at Kpasenkpe in the West Mamprusi District to open up the area often referred to as "the overseas".

The project forms part of a 10.8 million-euro Northern Bridges Project funded jointly by the Government of Ghana and the Agence Francaise de Developpment (AFD) of France.

Under this Project, five major bridges in the Northern and Upper East Regions would be constructed.

The successful completion of the White Volta Bridge would effectively put to an end the situation where the West Mamprusi District for most part of the year, is virtually divided, with people living beyond the river forced to relate more to the Upper East and thus denying the assembly of the needed revenue for development. President Kufuor noted that apart from the tremendous economic benefits, the Project would also help to prevent the frequent loss of lives through the use of dangerous canoes.
He drew attention to the need and urgency to deliver the Project within time, specifications and budget.
President Kufuor, therefore, asked the Ministry of Transportation, the Consultants and the Chinese contractors, China Jiangvi Corporation to make sure that the work was scrupulously done.
He expressed appreciation to France for its continued support for Ghana's socio-economic development, saying that it was his expectation that the bond of cooperation between the two countries would be deepened in the years ahead.
Mr Magnus Opare-Asamoah, Deputy Minister of Transportation, said the Northern Ghana Bridges Project formed a major component of the Department of Feeder Roads Bridge Development Programme, under which 1,200 water crossing points had been identified and 120 of them have had bridges constructed over them.
He said two of the major bridges, which were of immense national socio-economic importance, were the White Volta crossing at Kpasenkpe and River Daka crossing at Ekumdi, near Kpandai in the East Gonja District.
He said there were other minor bridges over River Naa Nori on the Gambaga-Tomboko road in the East Mamprusi District; River Abierre on the Zokko-Manyaro road and River Zebilla on the Zebilla-Zabre road, both in the Upper East Region.