Construction works on railways pedestrian bridge in Kumasi resume

Construction works on the pedestrian footbridge at the railways area in Kumasi, which formed part of the Asafo Market-UTC interchange project has resumed.
The footbridge is to link the Roman Hill area to Adum in the central business district of Kumasi across the railway station.
A new contractor, High Brains Limited has won the bid to take over the construction of the pedestrian footbridge which was suspended by Sarroch Gelfi JV, the contractors that executed works on the Asafo interchange.
High Brains has consequently commenced works on the bridge pending a formal award so as to help avert further delay of the completion of the project.
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu has since inspected the works done so far by High Brains and has expressed appreciation about the works.
As part of the road sector development programme, the government obtained a credit from the International Development Association (IDA) towards the cost of construction of the Asafo Market-UTC interchange in Kumasi.
The project involved the construction of two railway overpass bridges and an interchange with four ramps, improvement of some local roads and the provision of a pedestrian footbridge and traffic management facilities.
On January 2004 a contract was signed between the Government of Ghana and Messrs Sarroch Gelfi JV (the contractor) for the execution of the works.
On November 9, 2007 the project was less the pedestrian bridge commissioned by former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
The contractor had programmed to complete the construction of the footbridge by end of March 2008 however on November 15, 2007 the contractor informed the Engineer that he was suspending works due to delay in payment of some of the outstanding payment certificates.
Information gathered indicated that the contractor was advised against suspension of works and was informed that efforts were being made to get the World Bank to have the outstanding certificates settled but the contractor did not rescind his decision to suspend works and went further to terminate the contract on November 30, 2007.
The percentage of work completed on the footbridge at the time of termination, according to information by the Kumasi Metropolitan Urban Roads Department was about 50percent.
The components for the bridge were in the country and were on site and to help avoid pilfering of the components and damaging, the government then decided to have the bridge completed as a matter of urgency.
Therefore the project was advertised for invitation of eligible contractors interested in the undertaking the outstanding works and High Brains Limited won the bid.
Nana Yaw Kissi, Chief Executive Officer of High Brains said works were expected to be completed by the end of 2009.
He said market women who paraded their trading activities at the railways area had taken over the site when works started and had created a lot of filth in the area.
He said a total of about 700 meter cube of filth were evacuated from the site.
At the time of the Minister’s visit, it was observed that the steel bolts and nuts which were used on galvanise had started rusting.
Nana Kissi explained that he was going to replace the steel bolts and nuts with galvanised ones.
High Brains Limited was the contractors that excellently and perfectly recently rehabilitated the Adomi Bridge.

9 looters arrested in K'si Central Market

NINE persons who attempted to take advantage of Thursday’s fire outbreak at the Kumasi Central Market to loot from the blazing fire have been arrested by the police.
According to the police, the nine were part of dozens of looters who had a field day as the fire raged.
Chief Inspector Yusif Mohammed Tanko, the Police Public Affairs Officer in charge of the region, said the suspects had since been arraigned for stealing.
He said three members of the Community Protection Unit under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) were also arrested by the police and placed in custody for stealing.
They were said to have taken monies from one of the suspects the police arrested for attempting to loot.
The police said they removed GH¢92 and an unspecified amount of CFA from the pockets of the suspects, whilst escorting them to the Central Police Station.
The names of the three were given as Richard Ofori, Kennedy Tweneboah, both attached to the Central MTTU, and Kofi Asare, who is attached to the Ridge Police Station.
The market has also been closed to the public following the disaster. And to effect the closure, armed security personnel, comprising the military and police, have been detailed to provide a 24-hour guard.
The main road in front of the market has also been closed to traffic.
The closure is to enable city officials to take stock of the cost of damage caused by the fire and plan the way forward.
Additionally, the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has begun investigations into the incident.
The Ashanti Regional Minister and Chairman of the REGSEC, Mr Kofi Opoku-Manu, confirmed that the REGSEC took a serious view of the fire outbreak and would move to prevent a future recurrence.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who visited the scene yesterday, asked the KMA to find a lasting solution to the perennial fire outbreaks at the market.
Although the Fire Service is yet to confirm the cause of the inferno, some traders blamed it on an electric fault while others accused a trader who was said to be using a candle in her shop.
Firefighters responded promptly to the call when it started but they were unable to battle the fire effectively as a result of the congestion, causing the fire to spread to several stalls. They, therefore, blamed the massive destruction on the lack of access to the market.
It took them the whole afternoon and night to bring the fire under control. Some of the stalls have been constructed on fire hydrants and on access lanes in the market.
The area, popularly referred to as “Eighteen Mu” in the market was badly affected.
The firefighters had a difficult time gaining access to the scene and tracing water hydrants, which had been covered with concrete for stalls to be constructed on them.
This is not the first time fire has gutted Kumasi’s busiest market and city authorities faulted for failing to take measures to prevent the outbreak and ensuring that access roads were created in the market.
On all the occasions that fire had gutted the market, the fire service personnel were unable to battle the blaze effectively as a result of lack of access, normally resulting in massive destruction.
That notwithstanding, the extent of destruction in Thursday’s blaze was generally considered as unprecedented in the history of fire outbreaks associated with the central market.
It is not clear why the KMA has been unable to enforce its bye-laws and to ensure that sanity prevails in the market in spite of the numerous outbreaks of fire.