I will deal with any contractor who does shoddy work under my watch - Amoako-Attah

• Roads minister, Amoako-Attah says contractors and engineers in the habit of doing shoddy work should be on the lookout

• He explained that he expects the highest standards of work from his engineers, just as equally as he respects them

• He insisted that he will not countenance on anything but the best work output

Any contractor or engineer who sanctions any shoddy construction work in the country's roads sector will be dealt with squarely, insists Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah.

According to the minister, he expects the highest standards of work from his engineers and contractors because they owe it to the people of Ghana to do a good job.

Using an example of how he and the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, once travelled a bad road, drawing the president to near tears, he explained that he will hold all of them to the task when it requires it.

"I travelled with His Excellency on the road to Hamile; a terrible road. And when we got to Hamile, on the platform – on the stage, I was privileged to sit next to him and Ghanaians are listening to me, and I’ve already said that I, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, drops anything from my lips that is not true…

“On the platform, after driving on the Hamile road; terrible road, when we sat down, president beckoned to me, and said to me, Minister, did you see the road we travelled on? The towns and the conditions of the people? I said, “Yes, Mr. President.” He said, When I sat in my car, I felt like weeping.

“He said he felt like weeping when we were driving on that road. This is the president of the Republic. And he said, that is why anywhere we go, I don’t want to go with a helicopter; I want to experience and I want to drive on the roads. I am directing you to work on that road.," he explained.

Kwasi Amoako-Attah added that while he has high regard and respect for the professionalism and works of his engineers, he nonetheless does not settle for less from them.

He warned that anybody, under his watch, who executes any shoddy job will be dealt with, and he will not massage such a case should it happen.

“Today, my engineers are here. That road to Hamile is done and brought to bituminous level. Today, go and see that road. One after the other, all roads in Ghana will be fixed but it will be unconscionable, it will be unreasonable for anybody to think that all roads could be done simultaneously and we are on course, and we are fixing the roads robustly. And we are fixing quality roads for this country.

“Gone were the days that people were doing shoddy work, we were using Ghanaian money to pay them. Today, it cannot happen and under the watch of government, under my watch, if any road is found to be shoddily done, and certified by an engineer, both the contractor and the engineer will be taken on, and all my engineers are here. I respect every one of them but I’m not afraid of any one of them. I respect each contractor in this country and I’m not afraid of any contractor in this country. And I have the moral courage to deal with any contractor and to deal with any engineer who delivers and supervises any shoddy work for the good people of this country. And they know it; I tell them every day and I have the moral courage to deal with each one of them," he explained.

Kwasi Amoako-Attah made this known at a press briefing on the subject, "Improving Ghana's Road Network."