Rehabilitation work on a 3.80 kilometre road valued at GH¢5,429,286,42 in the Sunyani Municipality was inaugurated at the weekend.

The project, funded by the government and to be converted into a dual carriage road, would commence from Penkwase traffic lights and end at the second gate of the Liberation military barracks within the next 10 months.

Mr. Kwasi Oppong Ababio, Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, in a keynote address at the inauguration noted that, the project when completed, would help improve accessibility to and from the regional capital, increase productivity, reduce travel time and vehicle operating cost.

Problems such as high vehicular congestion and mobility to the regional hospital by commuters will be a thing of the past and this will help save lives especially emergency cases as well as controlling the perennial flooding as a result of the poor drainage system in the area, he added.

The MCE stated that such projects came along with numerous employment opportunities and entreated the youth to take advantage.

“The Better Ghana Agenda promised the people by President Mills was not to share money directly to them but to invest in them through sound social intervention policies and infrastructural development to acquire skills as well as financial gains to help improve the socio-economic status and living standards of Ghanaians”, the MCE said.

Mr. Oppong Ababio advised traders who refused previous orders to relocate to the new ‘Low Cost’ market provided by the Assembly, to evacuate before the contractor started work on the road project.

He also urged residents to co-operate with the contractor for quicker and efficient delivery of work.

Mr Edward Nyonator, Sunyani Municipal Engineer of the Department of Urban Roads, also appealed to residents on the corridors to exercise restraint and not to disturb the contractor and his workers, “since road projects like this come with inconveniences like blockage of water supply and electricity supply might be interrupted”.

He urged them to report such inconveniences to the Assembly member for the area or officials of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Urban Roads Department and Ghana Water Company Limited for immediate redress.

The municipal engineer also urged the utility services with service lines at the project site to contact the department of urban roads for the relocation of the structures.

Later in an interview with Ghana News Agency (GNA) Mr. Leonard Alfayine Aifa of Trade Vision Limited, contractors for the project said the necessary funds and equipment had already been mobilized and were made available and would move to site within a fortnight.

He appealed for the co-operation of all stakeholders to enable the company to work diligently and efficiently to complete the project within the stipulated period, if not earlier.**