Tema Motorway Roundabout Project: Kwaku Baako Weighs in on Hot Debate about Its Conception and Construction
Both NDC and NPP fanatics have flooded social media with arguments, claiming their political parties should be praised for the project.
Jonas Danquah 
The conception and construction of the Tema motorway roundabout project has become a subject of unending debate and controversy between the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Both NDC and NPP fanatics have flooded social media with arguments, claiming their political parties should be praised for the $57 million projects.
The opposition said the “visionary leadership” of former president John Mahama led to the construction of Tema Motorway interchange.
The NPP has also argued that President Akufo-Addo deserves to be eulogized instead for the completion of the project.
Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr. has set the records straight on the debate.
Find below Mr. Baako’s take on the Tema Motorway Interchange Project below:
Abdul Malik Kweku Baako writes;
My take on the conception and construction trajectory of the Tema Roundabout Project.
(1): The bare facts first: The Project For Improvement Of Ghanaian International Corridors (Grade Separation Of Tema Intersection In Tema) was/is part of the “NATIONAL TRANSPORT POLICY of expanding and upgrading the international corridors to achieve integrated, efficient and sustainable transport system, and strengthen the function of the country as the transport hub of the West African region”(Source: Ministry of Roads & Highways).
(2): In 2013, the Government of Ghana(GoG) (Mahama Administration) made a request to the Government of Japan(GoJ) for a Grant Aid Assistance to implement “The Project for the Tema Motorway Roundabout (Project )”.
(3): In March 2015, the Government of Japan(GoJ) , acting through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency(JICA) engaged the services of CTI Engineering International Co. Ltd. for the Survey for the development of an interchange; design options of interchanges; tendering for the selection of Contractor to execute the works and the supervision of the works.
(4): Survey and Detailed designs were undertaken between March 2015 and December 2016. The Final Report was submitted to the Ministry of Roads and Highways for review and approval in January/February 2017. After the review of several options of interchange designs and taking into consideration the cost and ease of construction, the Compact Diamond Intersection Type, a three-tier intersection which comprises an underpass and overpass separated by an At-Grade Signalized Intersection as the second tier, was selected and approved.
(5): In March 2017, the Exchange of Notes/Grant Agreement for the Improvement of Ghanaian International Corridors(Grade Separation of Tema Intersection in Tema) was signed.
(6): In December 2017, the Contract for the execution of the works was signed between the Government of Ghana(GoG), the Ministry of Roads and Highways (MRH) and Shimizu-Dai Nippon JV.
(7): Commencement of the works on site began in February 2018. The duration of the works was 28 calendar months. The defect notification period is 12 months.
(8): The cost of the project was/is 6 billion Japanese Yen.
PS: The above history of the conception and construction trajectory of the Tema Motorway Roundabout Project shows that the seeds were sown during and by the Mahama Administration, subsequently fertilized and eventually born/birthed by the Akufo-Addo Administration! A factual account of the genesis, evolution, and completion of the project under reference; similar to the path followed by the Eurojet hospitals project some of which are still at different stages of construction and completion following the Cabinet and Parliamentary approvals of October and November 2008!
