Residents of Pokuase and its environs can now heave a sigh of relief after President Akufo-Addo officially commissioned the Pokuase interchange to traffic today (Friday).
The interchange described as the biggest in West Africa is expected to remove the traffic bottleneck at the Pokuase Junction by easing the streams of traffic that conflict on the Awoshie-Pokuase and Accra-Kumasi roads.
Commissioning the project, President Akufo-Addo described the governing New Patriotic Party(NPP) as better protectors of the public purse.
“It is important to note that the original contract design was for a three-tier interchange, however, through efficient management by my government the interchange was modified to a four-tier interchange structure within the same contract sum. Indeed, $289m has been used by the Akufo-Addo government to construct three interchanges – Pokuase, Obetsebi Lamptey, and Tamale, as opposed to $260m being used by the Mahama government to construct just the Kwame Nkrumah interchange. These are examples of the fact that we in the New Patriotic Party(NPP) are good protectors of the public purse.”
The project which cost about $70 million, began on July 3, 2018, after the sod had been cut by the then Senior Minister, Mr Yaw Osafo Maafo, on behalf of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Project variations
The project was originally scheduled to be completed in October last year and later changed to March this year.
That was as a result of the inclusion of a fourth tier which was not part of the initial plan.
