Japan is to come out with an assistance package to enable Ghana to construct the Eastern Corridor roads as well as a major improvement of the Adansi-Praso-Bekwai Junction roads.
Under the Adansi-Praso-Bekwai Junction stretch, the road would be re-asphalted and a bridge constructed on the Adansi Praso and the Assin Praso.
Mr Joe Gidisu, Minister for Roads and Highways announced the proposed assistance in a chat with journalists, after sitting in bilateral talks between President John Evans Atta Mills and Japanese Premier Naoto Kan, in Tokyo, on the first of President Mills' four-day state visit to Japan.
According to Mr Gidisu, Japan is considering what amount, in the form of a grant, to commit to the project after the necessary studies had been done.
He said the assistance for the Eastern Corridor road project is beside what the Chinese Government promised, and explained that a number of groups had expressed interest in the construction of the Eastern Corridor routes.
Mr Gidisu said the Eastern Corridor goes beyond the mainline from Hohoe to Kulungugu, to encompass the Kpando-Dambai, Salaga to Bimbilla and Gushegu Karaga to Yendi, as well as other link roads.
He described as a good omen the proposed Japanese grant, adding that the construction would be captured in the next fiscal year, declaring "there'll be a major boost in our transportation system."
The construction of the roads, according to the Minister, would be a major boost to the nation's infrastructural development.
He announced that an additional $200 million of a syndicated loan had been committed to the Ghana Cocobod for the improvement of roads in cocoa growing areas to reduce the tendency of cocoa smuggling and to open up those areas to the rest of the country.
From Benjamin Mensah, GNA Special Correspondent, Tokyo, Japan