Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Monday cut the sod for the construction of the Tamale through Yendi to Tatale highway in the Northern Region.
The 167-kilometer highway being built at the cost of $150 million is expected to be completed within two years.
It is been funded by the World Bank facility under the Transport Sector Improvement Project (TSIP).
It has significant portions of it untarred for decades under successive governments and forms part of the Eastern Corridor road linking major towns in the Northern, North East, Upper East, Oti, Volta and Greater Accra Regions.
The project, which will include the provision of socio-economic complementary interventions in the form of schools, boreholes, and clinics within the project communities (Tamale, Mion, Yendi, Zabzugu & Tatale), has been broken into two lots; with Lot One being the 61.98km Tatale-Yendi road and Lot 2 the 106km Yendi-Tamale road.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Bawumia described the sod cutting for commencement of work as “historic”, and a demonstration of President Akufo-Addo’s inclusive development vision for all, especially the North.
“We are here to witness the historic sod-cutting for the construction of the Tatale-Yendi-Tamale road which forms part of the Eastern Corridor roads which links Tema, Asikuma, Hohoe, Bimbilla, Yendi, Gushegu, Gbintiri, Bunkprugu, Garu, Bawku and Polimakom,” he said.
He touted the ceremony as of great significance to us since it promotes the government’s drive to ensure inclusive and balanced development in Northern Ghana – an area that was identified in the 2014 Household Survey as one of the poorest parts of the country.
The Vice President stressed the Akufo-Addo-led government’s records in terms of road development in the country are unmatched.
He also assured that the president’s declaration of 2022 as another year of roads will continue unabated as “good road networks are essential in linking producers to markets, workers to jobs, students to schools, and the sick to hospitals. Undoubtedly, roads are vital to any development plan.”
In attendance to grace the ceremony was Roads Minister, Kwasi Amoako-Attah; Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul; Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery; Youth and Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif; and MP for Yendi, Farouk Aliu Mahama.
Others included Deputy Energy Minister and MP for Karaga, Mohammed Amin Adam; Deputy Transport Minister and MP for Gushegu, Hassan Tampuli; Deputy Roads Minister and MP for Pru West, Stephen Jalula; Deputy Gender Minister and MP for Walewale, Hajia Lariba Abudu; among other dignitaries, as well as traditional and religious leaders.
