Gives urgent attention to Navrongo-Kologo-Naga Road – MP appeals to Govt

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Navrongo Central Constituency in the Upper East Region, Hon Sampson Tangombu Chiragia, has appealed to the government THROUGH THE Minister of Roads and Highways to as a matter of urgency release funds to the Contractor working on the Navrongo-Kologo-Naga road.

According to him, the bad nature of the road has cut off most of his constituents, especially farmers and traders who lived and travel along the stretch between Kologo and Naga.

Hon Chiragia, a member of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament revealed this when he posed two separate questions to the Minister of Roads and Highways on the floor of Parliament on Friday, July 22, 2022.

He told EXPRESS NEWS GHANA the poor nature of the road needs urgent attention and something must reduce the plight of his constituents and travelers in general.

.The MP in his questions posed wanted to know from the Minister of Roads and Highways when the Navrongo –Kologo-Naga road will be completed and why the design and build contract for Tamale to Walewale road, thus Savelugu to Walewale phase one does not cover up to the Paga Border which is in a more deplorable state.

HON SAMPSON CHIRAGIA

In response, the sector Minister Kwesi Amoako Atta said work on the 39.7-kilometer Navrongo-Kologo -Naga road commenced in January 2020 and was scheduled for completion on January 9, 2023.

According to the Minister, construction work on the project was on-going and the contractor had executed part of the works including site clearance and demolition (100 per cent), earthworks (13.27 per cent) construction of culverts and U-drains (18.1 per cent) and road pavement works ( sub-base) 1.51 per cent.

The physical progress of work, Hon Amoako-Attah said stood at 39.82 per cent, explaining that the road connected Navrongo and Naga through Kologo, is progressing steadily.

On the Tamale to Walewale road, Mr. Amoako-Attah said engineering studies would be conducted on the Walewale-Paga Road section, which is about 93km, as phase three of the ongoing Tamale-Walewale road project by the end of the fourth quarter, of 2022.

He assured the MP and the people of Navrongo Central that the concerns raised by the MP would be considered, especially the Kologo-Naga stretch of the road.

But Hon Chiragia said though he was not satisfied with the response, he had the hope the Minister would live by his words and intervene in a short to medium assist the Contractor with little funds to mobilize back to the construction site.

He said, “Looking at the timelines, we have only six months left on the two-year contract and I wonder if the project will be completed on schedule. This has made life difficult for my people in the two communities who cannot send their farm produce to the market in Navrongo and also buy some essential items from there back home.”