The Minister for Roads, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has defended the government’s decision to modify the Suame Interchange design, citing excessive compensation costs and urban disruption associated with the original four-tier proposal.
Responding to criticism from the NPP Ashanti caucus in Parliament, the Minister said the issue was not about reducing scope but ensuring feasibility.
According to him, the fourth-tier bridge would have affected multiple commercial properties, including two-storey buildings, the Suame Police Station and portions of land belonging to Garden City Mall.
“A rough estimate of the cost of these will be more than 50 per cent of the cost of constructing the four-tier interchange,” he revealed.
He added that utility relocation and land compensation costs were not fully captured in the original project budget, making the design financially unsustainable, especially following Ghana’s economic challenges and IMF programme.
“The main challenge with the original design is not functionality but the expropriation cost,” the Minister said.
The Minister insisted that the modification would preserve businesses, reduce demolitions and allow government to invest savings into improving the wider road network in Kumasi and beyond.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com