Ghana Unveils Six-Lane Highway Design |
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Efam Dovi
Voice of America
October 31, 2009
Listen to Ghana Unveils Six-Lane Highway Design - RealPlayer - 227KB - 1:49
One of Ghana's first program to benefit from the $547 million, U.S. funded Millennium Challenge Account is a six-lane highway.
Amid drumming and brass band music along a portion of the 14-kilometer stretch of the road, President J. A. Kufuor launched the five-year program known here as Millennium Challenge Account.
As part of the program, that portion of the two-lane road that links western Ghana to the country's major airport and harbor is to be expanded to aid cargo transport and shorten commuting time.
President Kufuor says the project is intended to modernize Ghana's agriculture and radically transform rural economies.
"Farmers will be assisted with high yielding planting materials, credit, machinery, irrigation facilities, and training in modern farm practices to increase their productivity," he said.
He said businesses would also be supported to invest in storage and marketing facilities and services such as water and electricity would be extended to farming communities.
According to the president, the project would ensure food security throughout the entire country and generate over two million jobs in the 23 districts where it is being implemented.
Millennium Challenge Account board Chairman Papa Kwesi Nduom, says Ghana has been given the opportunity to battle poverty.
"We have a good board of directors, we are being careful in selecting the people to manage the program, it is under parliamentary scrutiny, we know that the U.S. inspector general is involved, our own auditor general is involved, the president is going to do oversight. I do not think there is much of a chance for anyone to fool around with this one," he explained.
The Millennium Challenge Compact is a government grant from the United States, which aims to reduce poverty through good governance in selected developing countries. The amount earmarked for Ghana is the largest so far doled out by the fund.