Focus on clearing debt of local contractors - Construction Chamber to government

The Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to mobilise funds to pay contractors for finished projects.

The chamber laments that the government owes its members in excess of US$1.8 billion and has made no efforts to redeem the debt.

The Chief Executive Officer of the chamber, Emmanuel Cherry believes that this debt when settled will help build the struggling local construction industry.

“As we speak now there is a challenge that has bedevilled the construction sector in terms of delayed payment. And it comes with its own repercussions; interest upon in interest on delayed payments which is not inuring to the benefit and growth of the country.

"Already the country’s purse is sinking and this is adding more to it. So the players of the industry are thinking that according to the contract term, the first thing the ministers must look out for is to quickly see how best they can mobilise funding to clear all our outstanding liabilities of the contractors so that we start with a clean sheet. If not, the more it keeps in the books the higher the interest and the quantum also goes up and the country suffers at the end of it all,” he spoke to Citi Business News.

Over the period, the construction chamber has registered its displeasure over delayed payments by government.

It had recently threatened to go to court over the issue while some of its members warned that they will have no other option than to close down buildings and block roads they have constructed as the government has failed to pay them.