Gov’t ensures value-for-money on projects – Inusah

Minister for Roads and Highways, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, has rejected claims by the opposition that cost of projects inaugurated by President John Mahama in the Volta region, as part of government’s ‘Accounting To The People’ tour, has been inflated.

The New Patriotic Party’s Deputy Communications Director, Anthony Karbo, challenged President Mahama to provide the unit cost of projects he has been inaugurating on his tour, alleging the cost of those projects have been blown.

Alhaji Fusieni, in an interview with Emefa Apawu on 505, however, rejected the accusations, and said government is ensuring value-for-money for all projects.

“When you talk about the cost of a project, it is always important to look at the items that make up the cost. When you desegregate a project, you will be able to appreciate what goes into the cost build-up and then interrogate fairly and … audit fairly.

“But when you just lump the project and say the cost of the project is high and, especially when you even do not know that the [road] project like Dodi Pepeso and Nkwanta was funded exclusively and entirely by the EU, and you make such serious argument like John Dramani Mahama’s government have inflated cost of projects, [then it is not fair]’.

“Institutional mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that we have value for money. Nsuaem-Fofosu road was funded by the African Development Bank, because of the institutional mechanism put in place, we made savings on the road because we had monitored the execution of the road and monitored in such a way that we had value for money”.