Completion of the Eastern Corridor road project has become a burden on the government, four years after it was commissioned.

The project stretches from Tema in the Greater Accra Region, through Akosombo, Juapong to Hohoe, Jasikan, Kadjebi, Nkwanta, Kpasa and Oti Damanko to Bimbilla, Yendi, Garu, Misiga and finally to Kulungugu, in the Upper East Region.

It will serve as the main link between the southern and the northern parts of the country and between Ghana and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Along the line, the construction process, got worse when the Adomi Bridge, which links Accra to the eastern part of the country was closed to vehicular traffic.

The Ho-Adaklu-Adidome-Sogakorfe road in the Volta Region, which serves as the alternative route to the Senchi Ferry site is still under construction since 2010.

But speaking at the grand durbar of Chiefs and people of Asogli to climax this year’s yam festival in the Volta regional capital, Ho, Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur said the road was being repackaged to be fully executed.

He added funds have already been released for the continuation of the project.

Mr. Amissah-Arthur also expressed the government's commitment towards the completion of two abandoned projects in the regional capital – an office complex for the Centre for National Culture and a regional library, both of which have been under construction for more than ten years now.

Work on the eastern corridor road, being executed by the  China State Construction Engineering Corporation, was packaged to be executed under a Chinese Exim Bank loan facility.

Major components of the project are the construction of a single two-lane carriageway (3.5 metres per lane) with a 2.5-metre hard shoulder on each side longitudinally, the provision of drainage structures, mainly pipe culverts and U-drains, the provision of lay-bys in specific towns and villages, repairs of bridge structures and relocation of utilities.

The need for the project was further incensed by the desire of Ghana’s landlocked northern neighbours to cart their imports through Ghana’s sea ports.

Early July, 2011, the late President John Evans Atta Mills was said to have directed the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning to, as a matter of urgency, release US$100 million for work to begin between Asikuma and Hohoe in the Volta Region as part of the eastern corridor road project.

Corruption

Meanwhile, President of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs, Torgbui Afede XIV also challenged the government to deepen efforts to deal with corruption in the country.

According to him, the corrupt practices of public office holders have the tendency of damaging the country’s developmental goals and therefore effective steps should be taken to address the canker.

“The government must intensify the battle against corruption,” he stressed.

The Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State was also addressing Chiefs and people of the area to climax this year’s yam festival in Ho.

He further criticized corruption among the political elite, pointing to its damaging effect on the country’s development goals.

He urged politicians to refocus on development rather than banking their hopes on winning elections.