'Dam contractors who do shoddy jobs shouldn’t be paid' – Bawumia

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has asked Development Authorities not to pay contractors working on government’s one village one dam projects, if they fail to meet the specified standards.

The Vice President’s comment follows reports of shoddy works on some of the dams.

“The one village, one dam project will provide some respite to farmers in the dry season. We heard some of the dams have been done shoddily. We are trying to construct over 500 of these dams and I will like to direct the development authorities…You cannot pay the contractors if they have done a shoddy job. You should fire them and bring in new contractors. It is just that simple.”

He said the initiative fits into government’s agenda of ensuring sustainable agriculture including plans to provide large scale irrigation opportunities.

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said this when he delivered a keynote address at the 2019 Northern Ghana Development Conference on the theme “Accelerating the Sustainable development of northern Ghana in the context of Ghana beyond aid”.

“You are bound to have some of these problems. For instance I was in the Upper East last week and I had a briefing that out of the 50 dams, two were not done properly so they had to be redone. So you are bound to see some of these challenges happening but the development authorities must move quickly to ensure that the designs are followed and if they are not followed, the contractors are not paid. They should cancel [the contracts] and new contractors brought on board so they can do this work for the benefit of all.”

Challenges with one village one dam initiative

There are concerns that the implementation of the policy has so far been poor.

For example, the Upper East Region was allocated with 140 of the dams promised but only 40 are said to have been constructed so far, in all the 15 Municipalities and Districts of the region.

Out of the 40, some residents have complained that the dams had either dried up or were built properly.

Nana Addo pledges to look into shoddy dam projects

President Nana Akufo-Addo has also pledged to investigate allegations of shoddy work in the construction of dams under the government’s One Village One Dam project in northern Ghana.

According to the President, media reports about the poor quality of work on the dams will not be overlooked.

Speaking at a meeting with the Navrongo Traditional Council, Nana Akufo-Addo said the matter will be investigated.

“There are all kinds of criticisms being made about other parts of our policy. Apparently, some people up there are not satisfied with the dams that have been built.”

“I will be looking into these matters and at the appropriate time, I will have the opportunity to speak about these criticisms,” the President said.