Ghana clears 183.6km right-of-way for Accra-Kumasi Expressway as farm compensation continues
Written on
More than 800 farmers on the Accra-Kumasi Expressway corridor are to receive compensation after Ghana Armed Forces engineers cleared 183.6 kilometres of right-of-way, exceeding the original target by eight kilometres.
More than 800 farmers whose farms fall within the right of way of the Accra-Kumasi Expressway are expected to receive compensation as the government progresses with preparatory works for the project. So far 469 farmers have received compensation ranging from about GH¢1,500 to GH¢350,000, based on valuation data provided by the Ministry of Roads and Highways.
Brigadier Jonas Wiafe, Director of Engineering Services of the Ghana Armed Forces, disclosed this at a ceremony at Kwaso in the Ejisu Municipality to officially hand over the cleared right of way for the expressway. He said the compensation process was ongoing and assured affected farmers who were yet to receive payment that they would be reached, adding: “We have the required funds to make all those commitments.”
Brigadier Wiafe said no physical property — buildings, whether mud houses or sandcrete, completed or uncompleted — was touched during the clearing operation. The military engineers concentrated on clearing vegetation and agricultural lands, including food crop farms, rubber plantations and oil palm plantations along the designated corridor.
The Ghana Armed Forces was contracted through the Ministry of Defence by the Ministry of Roads and Highways to undertake pre-construction activities for the expressway. Brigadier Wiafe said the engineers had cleared 183.6 kilometres of the right of way, exceeding the original target of 175.6 kilometres by eight kilometres, covering the 120-metre-wide roadway from Kilometre 13 in the Greater Accra Region to Kilometre 188 in the Ashanti Region, and up to 150 metres at some major intersections.
The team also undertook additional works in swampy areas, river lines and lands degraded by illegal mining. According to the brigadier, the original plan was to treat and reclaim five kilometres of degraded land, but the team treated, reclaimed and opened up 15 kilometres.
About 78 military engineers drawn from the 48, 49, 50 and 51 Engineer Regiments and the Engineer Training School were deployed for the operation, supported by logistics, administrative and other personnel. They worked in three shifts, including at night and during rainy days, to complete the assignment, meeting a target of 20 weeks in 19 weeks. The works form part of the critical preparatory phase of the expressway project, supporting its feasibility and the initial and detailed engineering designs.