President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday commissioned a 900 metres road and bridge over the newly constructed rail line at Afienya in the Greater Accra Region.
The project, which spans across a bridge on the Tema -Mpakadan railway line at Afienya under construction was executed by AFCONS Infrastructure.
The President also inspected ongoing construction works at New Afienya railway station and the 300 meters railway bridge over the Volta River near Senchi in the Eastern Region which are almost complete.
The entire 97-kilometer railway project which costs $ 447 million is over 95 percent complete and expected to be handed over for use by the first quarter of next year.
President Akufo -Addo said that the initiative was a component of plans to build a multimodal transportation link along the Volta Lake between Tema and Buipe.
The 96 percent finished project was financed by a credit line Ghana was given by the Exim Bank of India.
President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that the implementation of the project was a testimony of the strong historic ties between Ghana and India.
He said the project would address the imbalance between transport modes for long-distance transit and domestic freight movement from Accra, Tema and Northwards and vice-versa using the Volta lake transport system.
The project would also improve the operations and competitiveness of the Tema Port, reduce freight transport costs, and enhance safety.
Additionally, it would lower the cost of freight and that of doing business in Ghana.
Not only will this project improve transit cargo volumes through the Volta lake, but it will also expand domestic shipments to and from the lake and will serve as a boost for agriculture and enterprises within the environment of the lake.
When the project is completely operational, it will connect Tema Port to the lake transportation network, particularly the North-South movement, over a 400 km distance.
It would make it possible to transport agricultural products and containerized freight from the Northern enclave in the Afram plains to the port of Tema and other locations using the Volta Lake.
