Don’t pay shoddy 1V1D contractors – Bawumia

No contractor building any of the irrigation dams in farming hamlets in northern Ghana should be paid for shoddy work done, Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has ordered.

The Vice-President’s warning on Thursday night comes on back of media reports that some of the beneficiary communities are complaining of poor job done.

Delivering 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’, Dr Bawumia said: “The one village-one dam project will provide some respite to farmers in the dry season” but “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.”

Dr Bawumia noted that it is not unusual to have a few rogue contractors among those undertaking the works.

“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 re-done.

“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”, Dr Bawumia said.

In all, 570 dams are to be constructed with an amount of GHS94.5 million.

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured the affected communities that his administration will look into the claims and make appropriate changes if need be.

Nana Akufo-Addo gave the assurance when he addressed the chiefs and elders of the Navrongo Traditional Council at the Jubilee House when they paid a courtesy call on him.

"There are all kinds of criticisms being made about some of our policies. Apparently, some people are not satisfied with the dams that are being built. We are looking into it to find out the truth of it," the President said.

President Akufo-Addo noted that: "Unfortunately for us in Ghana, it is difficult always to take what's read in the newspapers as the gospel because, invariably, when you go into matters, you discover that, in fact, the truth may be the opposite. Nevertheless, we’ll be looking into these matters and at the appropriate time, we’ll have the opportunity to speak about those criticisms."

Presenting an address on behalf of the Navro Pio, Pe Asagapare II, Paramount Chief of the Navrongo Traditional Area, Pe Dr Pwakweah Atudwe Manchi III, the Divisional Chief of Manyoro, requested the support of the government for the Navrongo paramountcy to renovate the broken-down colonial Navrongo Traditional Council Secretariat.

The successful rehabilitation of the facility, the chief said, "will position the Navrongo paramountcy on a proper pedestal for effective governance".

Nana Akufo-Addo described the decision to renovate the council building as a "solid one".

The Minister of Chieftaincy Affairs, the President said, will be told about it to see what he can do to support the request.