NKAWKAW GETS NEW LORRY PARK (PAGE 21, OCT 14)

A NEW lorry park at Nkawkaw whose construction started 12 years ago, has eventually been completed and inaugurated.
The GH¢554,919 facility located on the outskirts of the town along the main Accra-Kumasi highway replacing the old one in the centre of the town, would take care of about 600 vehicles at a time.
The new lorry park will also help decongest the one-and-half kilometre Nkawkaw stretch of the highway which takes at least two hours for motorists to cover, especially on Fridays and Saturdays.
Cutting the sod for its inauguration last Wednesday, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said the provision of the facility would further expand businesses in the town.
He called on the municipal assembly to provide the park with the necessary amenities such as a rest room for drivers, public place of convenience and a urinal.
The regional minister asked the assembly not to discriminate when allocating the parking lots to the various transport unions and warned against the sale of alcoholic beverages at the lorry park.
Mr Ampofo was not happy about the long delay in completing the project leading to huge increase in the cost of construction.
He, therefore, advised municipal and district assemblies to ensure that all projects initiated would be completed on time.
The Kwahu West Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Alex Somua Obeng, said although GH¢554,919 had so far been paid to the contractors, a lot more remained to be paid, adding that such a situation had plunged the assembly into debt and blamed the previous administration for the problem.
He appealed to the various drivers’ unions to use the facility.
The Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent James Sarfo Peprah, and the Regional Co-ordinator of the Road Safety Commission, Mr Stephen Anokye, took turns to educate motorists and pedestrians on road safety measures to curb the high rate of motor accidents, especially within the Nkawkaw stretch of the Accra-Kumasi highway.
The Member of Parliament for Nkawkaw, Mr Seth Adjei Baah, urged fellow politicians in the area to put aside their political affiliation and unite to develop the area.
The Obohene, Nana Afari Yeboa Boagyan, who chaired the function, called for discipline among the drivers to maintain the facility.