Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has assured chiefs and people of the Upper East Region of the government's commitment to complete the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakom road.

Speaking during a working visit to the project site in Bolgatanga, the Minister reiterated the current government's commitment to securing sustainable funding to complete the project to bring relief to residents and to boost businesses.

“We are all familiar with the history of this project, it is one of the unfortunate things”, Mr Agbodza said.

“This project started under the Roads Fund, but the scope quickly changed, meaning that it was difficult to fund under the Roads Fund, so funding was then changed to a commercial facility, which Parliament approved, and unfortunately, that was what we were doing before the debt issue happened”.

He said the government had prioritised the project as one of its critical roads to receive serious attention, and the Ministry of Finance was working to secure funds for work to resume in earnest.

“The Finance Minister has been working together with all concerned in terms of our debt restructuring, and so we are waiting for the directions of the Finance Minister on this project so we can get funds to complete it”, he said.

The Minister told the contractors of the project that, the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakom road was important to the government, and added “that is why government has been trying to do it since 2016 or even earlier, we can only encourage you to continue with what you are doing while the issue of the financing is concluded”.

Mr Donatus Atanga Akamugri, the Upper East Regional Minister, said the visit of the Roads Minister was a testament to the level of seriousness the government attached to roads and development of the region.

The Regional Minister pointed out that the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakom road was an international road, describing it as “the heartbeat” of the region, which connects the country to the Sahelian region and urged the Roads Minister not to disappoint the residents.

“This road links to the Eastern Corridor Road, and it makes the road infrastructure complete if this road is done, but if the government completes the Eastern Corridor Road without this project, it is still incomplete”, he stressed.

Mr Akamugri said there was a lot of investment potential in the region and expressed confidence that the Bawku conflict would be resolved soon, and when the road is completed, it would boost business and the local economy.

“We want to urge the Roads and Finance Ministers to expedite action on the project. I will also follow up with my Members of Parliament to mount pressure on the Finance and Roads Ministers to ensure that they do the needful for the people of Upper East Region”, he said.

The Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakom road project began in the latter part of 2016 and was expected to be completed in two and a half years.

However, the contractors left the site with their equipment for about a year due to the non-payment of arrears.

The preliminary contract sum for the project was pegged at GH¢613 million, but it was later revised to 127 million Euros.

The project was awarded to two construction firms; Mawums Construction Limited, a Ghanaian company, and Queiroz Galvao from Brazil.

Upon assumption of office of the new government in 2017, the project was repackaged and re-awarded to the same companies.

Since the beginning of 2023, the work on the project has stalled.

The 117-kilometre road passes through six political districts, namely, Bolgatanga Municipal, Bolgatanga East District, Nabdam District, Bawku West District, Binduri District, Bawku Municipal, and Pusiga District of the Upper East Region.

The international road also links Ghana to neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, and Niger and its completion is expected to boost internal and international trade.

Mr Agbodza, who was accompanied by his deputy, Mr Alhassan Suhuyini, also inspected the Bolgatanga-Sherigu-Naaga road, which construction had also stalled.