President John Mahama has announced that all contractors under the Big Push infrastructure programme will be paid within two weeks of submitting their payment certificates.

Speaking during his Thank You Tour in the Upper West Region, he said the government has made financial provisions to avoid payment delays and accelerate the start of critical projects.

"No contractor will have the excuse that he has not been paid," the President assured.
"My brothers and sisters, work will begin very soon. In a few months, you will see contractors on all these roads because the money has been provided in the budget. This year, we set aside 14 billion Ghana cedis for the Big Push initiative."

He noted that the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has given firm assurances on both mobilisation and timely payments.

"The Finance Minister has assured me that all the contractors will get 15% mobilisation to be able to mobilise to the site. He has also assured me that any contractor on the Big Push project who presents his certificate for payment will be paid within two weeks of presentation," he stated.

According to President Mahama, this move is to eliminate bottlenecks in project execution and ensure rapid development.

"So no contractor will have the excuse that he has not been paid, and we want to see work continuing as soon as the contract is awarded," he added.

He further announced that the Cabinet will soon approve several key road projects under the Big Push initiative, including the dualisation of major highways and the construction of a new expressway between Accra and Kumasi to cut down travel time to just two and a half hours.

"Cabinet will soon approve priority projects under the Big Push infrastructural programme. Understandably, a significant number of these priority projects will be in the road sector. These works include the dualisation of major highways, including the Accra-Kumasi, Accra-Takoradi, and Accra-Aflao roads," he disclosed.

The President also outlined plans for key bridge rehabilitation works.

"We'll also tackle major bridges such as the Dambai Bridge, the Ekye-Amanfrom Bridge, and the rehabilitation of the Buipe Bridge, Daboya Bridge, and Yapei Bridges. We're also designing a new expressway between Accra and Kumasi," he added.