Bids for the rehabilitation of the Axim Junction-Tarkwa and Abuakwa-Bibiani roads were opened on Tuesday under the supervision of Professor Kwaku Appiah-Adu of the Central Tender Board.

Eight local and foreign companies, including Taysec, Colas and PW Civils are bidding for the jobs, to be funded under a grant from the European Development Fund.

Their bids ranged from 141.3bn cedis to 204.7bn cedis for rehabilitation works covering 63-kilometre Axim-Tarkwa road under lot one to between 118.8bn cedis to 142.4bn cedis for the Abuakwa-Bibiani Road for lot two.

All but two companies submitted bids for both projects. All the bidders have 2bn cedis each as bid security for the first lot and 1.5bn cedis for the second lot.

The contracts included rehabilitation and widening of roads to 7.3 metres width with asphaltic concrete surfacing, reconstruction of the Bonsaso River Bridge, piped culverts of various sizes and other drainage improvements as well as the provision of road line marking, traffic signals and crash barriers.

Prof Appiah-Adu said the roads when rehabilitated would enhance the socio-economic development of the people within the road's corridors in particular and the Western and Ashanti Regions as a whole.

He said the opening of the bids marked the beginning of an evaluation process by the consultants, who would eventually select a winner. Prof Appiah-Adu said low bids are not necessarily a requisite for choosing a contractor and advised the public not to jump to conclusions. Each contract will be completed within two years of award.