President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured the chiefs and the people of Salaga that the government will complete all infrastructure projects it has initiated in the area to bring about improvement in the lives of the people.

He mentioned some of the projects being undertaken as the rehabilitation of the 137-km Tamale-Salaga-Makango road, the 100-km Bunjai-Fufulso road and the Salaga small town water project.

The President gave the assurance in response to a request made by the Kpembewura, Ndefoso Dari Haruna Bismark Banbange IV, to him for some critical projects in the area to be completed.

President Akufo-Addo was at the Kpembewura’s Palace at Kpembe in Salaga yesterday at the start of a day’s tour of the Savannah Region.

The tour took him to the East Gonja municipality and the North East Gonja District, where he inspected ongoing development projects.

The Bunjai-Fufulso road connects Salaga, the capital of the East Gonja municipality, to Kpalibe, the capital of the North East Gonja District, and to Damongo, the regional capital, through Fufulso.

The Tamale-Salaga-Makango road will enhance economic activities in the area when completed, while the water project is geared towards solving the perennial water problem the people of Salaga and its environs face.

Year of Roads

The President said all the road projects in the area would be completed on schedule to facilitate the smooth transportation of people and goods.

He said road infrastructure played a critical role in the socio-economic development of every nation and, therefore, the government would ensure that the roads were completed on time.

He said his predecessor, who is a son of Gonjaland, had claimed on his 2016 political campaign to have undertaken unprecedented road infrastructure development across the country, but having travelled on some of the roads, including the one leading to Salaga, he was yet to see the unprecedented road development talked about.

The President said he had observed that roads all over the country were in a poor state, hence his decision to declare this year as the Year of Roads. President Akufo-Addo said “at the end of the day”, Ghanaians would get to know who told lies and who spoke the truth.

"Road infrastructure development will not be put in a green book or in statements the President makes but will be evident for all to see," he said.

Request

The Kpembewura, in his welcome address, requested the Kpembe Primary School, built in 1937, to be rehabilitated or totally replaced with a one-storey block and equipped with computers as a means to enhance the teaching and learning of Information and Communications Technology.

He further called for a bridge to be constructed to link Salaga and Makango.

Assurance

The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwasi Amoako Atta, said the bridge request would be given prompt attention.

Giving added insight into the government’s road development agenda for the Savannah Region, he said the government had earmarked GH?633 million to tackle five critical road carriageways in the region.

They are the Bunjai-Fufulso road that links the East Gonja municipality to the North East and the Central Gonja districts and on to Damongo; the upgrading of the Daboya-Mankarigu road in the North Gonja District, the Salaga-Ekumdipe-Kpandai road and the Kpandai-Nkanchina road in the East Gonja municipality.

Engineers and Planners

Mr Amoako Atta had announced earlier at a press conference that the Tamale-Salaga-Makango road rehabilitation project, which was awarded to Engineers and Planners, had stalled.

He said the ministry would meet with Engineers and Planners in Accra to get the construction firm to go back to site and continue with the work.

"If we fail to reach a consensus on the matter by Friday, February 7, 2020, the contract awarded to Engineers and Planners for 80 kilometres of the 137-km Tamale-Salaga-Makango stretch will be terminated,” he said.

Already, he said, A&N Ghanem Limited, which was working on another stretch of the Tamale-Salaga-Makango road, had returned to site after a similar meeting with the ministry and was now working.

Durbar

The President also addressed a durbar of the chiefs and the people of the North East Gonja District at Kpalibe, where he assured them that the government was working to improve water supply in the area.