NDC carelessly awarded road contracts before leaving office - Minister

The Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Atta has revealed how the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) prior to exiting power recklessly awarded some road contracts out of budget.

According to him, within the second half of 2016 alone, government awarded contracts worth five billion Ghana Cedis (GH¢5 Billion) from the road fund when projections of revenue to be generated for the whole year for the same statutory fund was GH¢1.2 billion

“Between July and December 2016, the then government awarded contracts worth five billion Ghana Cedis way beyond the projections of the statutory fund. Where will you get money from to offset this debt”, he asked.

He explained that four areas including fuel levy, Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Tollbooths and vehicles in transit feed into the road fund indicating that when projections from all these sectors work well it will not amount to the cost of contracts awarded by the erstwhile government in the heat of the campaign.

“Projections for the whole year is GH¢1.2 billion and from the fuel levy we get 30Gp from each litre of fuel we buy which constitutes about 94 percent of the total amount generated into the road fund used for road maintenance work. We get small from the DVLA, tollbooths and vehicles on transit…that is vehicles going to Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso and other areas”, he revealed.

The situation he observed, has contributed to government’s inability to pay for road contracts awarded under the previous government in the wake of already existing certificates of over 10 years that are yet to be honoured.

“How can you be this heartless to a government….awarding contracts without recourse to how you will pay for them”, he quizzed