Former Minister for Roads and Highways and Member of Parliament for Bantama, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has dismissed claims that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) deliberately failed to complete any interchange projects in the Ashanti Region.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen show, Mr. Asenso-Boakye said global events, including the COVID-19 pandemic and broader financial constraints, significantly affected the government’s ability to deliver major infrastructure projects that relied heavily on foreign funding.
He cited several large-scale road projects across the country that were stalled, including the Suame Interchange, the Takoradi PTC Interchange, and the Nungua Interchange.
According to him, these challenges were not unique to Ghana, as many countries experienced similar financial shocks that disrupted development plans.
“We were impacted by the global financial crisis, which affected many countries, including Ghana. This led to delays in several large projects that rely on foreign funding. Not only was the Suame Interchange project stalled, but the Takoradi PTC and Nungua Interchange projects were also put on hold. I want Ghanaians, especially the people of Kumasi, to understand that the NPP faced challenges that prevented us from delivering on many of our plans; it wasn’t that we neglected these areas,” he said.
Mr. Asenso-Boakye stressed that the Ashanti Region was not neglected, highlighting that the NPP government undertook several inner-city road projects in Kumasi. He noted that factors such as population density, economic activity, and differences in funding arrangements influenced project prioritization, emphasizing that the inability to complete at least one interchange in Kumasi was due to financial constraints rather than neglect.
“The projects we completed in Accra required more immediate attention, but that does not mean we did not want to work in Kumasi. The funding for these projects varied, and factors like population density and economic activity played significant roles in our decisions. We have made significant improvements to several inner-city roads in Kumasi. The primary reason we couldn’t construct at least one interchange in the region is due to the financial challenges we encountered,” he added.
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