Minister Discloses Status Of Boakra Inland Project
The Minister for Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, has provided an update on one of the outstanding projects of the government in the Ashanti region of Ghana.
The $330 million Boankra Integrated Logistics Terminal known as the Boankra Inland Port was featured on the list of topics touched on by the Minister during a press conference on Wednesday, March 29.
Sod was cut for the construction of the Boankra Integrated Logistics Terminal by President Akufo-Addo and Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II in November 2020 and was scheduled to be completed in 2023.
But as of July 2022, construction on the 413-acre land had not yet kick-started angering residents of the Ejisu municipality to schedule a demonstration.
In December 2022, Graphic Online reported that work on the site started on October 10 citing Justmoh Construction Limited, the contractors.
The Construction company told Graphic it would complete the project in March 2024.
The Boankra Integrated Logistics Terminal is an ultra-modern integrated logistics terminal consisting of a Container Service Yard (CSY), Container Freight Station (CFS), Reefer, Warehouses, Truck Parking Area, Trucker’s Facilities, Fuel Station, Commercial Complex, Freight Forwarders Offices, and facilities for postal, telecommunication, utility services, among others.
Addressing the press, Mr Asiamah indicated that the contractors were already on site with the work progressing steadily.
As of March 2023, he said, 30% of the work is done.
“I’m happy to report that the phase one works have reached about 30% completion.”
“The completion of these projects will help decongest the port and bring import and export services closer to the doorsteps of shippers in the Middle and Northern part of the country as well as neighbouring landlocked countries. “
The slow pace with which the project is being handled has been a cause of concern for Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
In December when a delegation with the Development Bank Ghana (DBG) called on him, the King touched on the subject.
That same month, during the last sittings of the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs when the regional minister, Simon Osei Mensah was hauled, the King expressed concerns about the delay in the project.
“We want to do an inland port but there is no railway connection. How do you do it? That’s infrastructure and that is development. Why can’t you get GPHA to commit to how many tonnes of loads they get and use that to guarantee them a loan so that they can use the loan to build a railway? So, if they record 300 tonnes each day that the railway is going to cart, that is enough funding. So you space it out with the cost of the railway line. These are things we should prioritise,”
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
