Minority Leader advocates law to prevent government's abandoning projects

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, has recommended the passage of a law to prevent governments from starting new projects they have not secured adequate funding for.

According to him, this will prevent the phenomenon of uncompleted and abandoned projects scattered all over the country.

Mr. Iddrisu made this recommendation at a post-budget workshop in the Volta Regional capital, Ho, for members of Parliament.

The workshop was to help legislators appreciate and analyse the 2021 budget.

He said such a law is urgent and will be critical to ensure value for the investments the state makes in projects.

“There are many ministers who initiate projects even when there is no budgetary allocation or provision for it. It’s about time we (Parliament) said no to that. No project should commence unless it is supported by adequate availability of funds for its initiation and completion,” he said.

On his assessment of the 2021 budget statement, the Tamale South legislator said the budget was without hope and urged Ghanaians to brace themselves for more hardships.

“There is no hope. Ghanaians must brace themselves for increased hardship and increased suffering because there will be petrol hikes with [the increase in] ESLA [energy sector levies] that they [the government] described a few years ago as a nuisance tax,” he said.

The Majority Leader of Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who presented the budget last Friday, indicated that President Akufo-Addo in his second term of office will commit to completing abandoned projects by his predecessors.

He said government will prioritise channelling its resources to completing existing infrastructural projects instead of committing to new ones.

The Member of Parliament for Suame stated that abandoned projects do not only have a dire effect on the country’s development but also cause financial instability to the economy.