The 6km Tono road in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality, has received a facelift, significantly improving it and showing signs of relief to road users.
From the spot where the road connects the Navrongo-Sandema highway, there has been the application of bitumen and chippings right to the premises of the ICOUR offices and its township.
Before work on the road construction halted last year due to the lack of funds, bridges, culverts and gutters had already been constructed at some sections of the road.
GhanaWeb’s visit to the road showed workers of the construction company – Plans Construction Limited, busy at work asphalting the stretch.
Project Manager, Menkah Ofori Obed, speaking to GhanaWeb said the construction is entirely a Government of Ghana project, adding that the delay in the release of funds seriously affected the progress of work.
He furthered that the need to do a quality job was also another reason the road project took a long time to complete.
He said the road had not received any improvement since its construction in the Acheampong era causing massive deterioration which necessitated the need to stick to doing quality work.
He continued that they had to construct new bridges, culverts and gutters which demanded more time and resources.
Mr. Menkah said more layers of the bitumen would be added in a months’ time to attain the right targeted quality which will make the road durable.
While urging the government to prioritize the construction of roads by timely releasing funds to road contractors, Mr. Menkah expressed excitement the project was almost complete to bring relief to road users and most importantly residents and students who have been subjected to the dust all the years the road was in a deplorable state.
He touted the good job done so far on the project by the company and was hopeful the lifespan of the road would go beyond 10 years after completion.
The project manager further touched on the Navrongo- Kologo- Naaga road which is being constructed by the same company. He revealed that earth work was still ongoing despite the challenges the wet season posed to the construction work.
He said the Navrongo- Kologo-Naaga road should be completed within the two-year schedule once government releases funds for the project.
GhanaWeb spoke to some residents who expressed excitement following the improvement of the road.
Awuri Daniel, who schools at the Navrongo community health nursing training school, was happy the improvement would stop the dust they have been enduring in their rooms and classes.
He said the dust made their uniforms dirty whenever they used the stretch.
Mabel, another resident, said it was her first-time seeing improvement work been carried out on the road since she moved to the Wuru community three years ago. She was particularly happy she could now wear any brightly coloured garment of her choice without fearing it would be discoloured by the dust.
She appealed to the government to extend its attention to other road projects in the municipality and country as a whole that need improvement.
Faustina, who operates a hairdressing shop by the road side, lamented how the dust from the road nearly collapsed her business.
She explained that her shop was always filled with dust particles to the discomfort of her clients.
Faustina was however grateful for the asphalting, especially for the intervention it would add to the prevention of accidents on the stretch. She also said it would improve her business since the challenge with dust would be eliminated.
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