Give contractors a project at a time

Bawjiase, (C/R) June 14, GNA - An Assemblyman of the Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Assembly, Mr G. K. Nyanney, has appealed to the government to ensure that contractors successfully complete one project before they are awarded with new ones.

He noted that the present system, where one contractor is given more than one project at a time has been sending billions of cedis of the tax payers monies down the drains, since many of these projects are abandoned uncompleted by some of the contractors.

Mr Nyanney made the appeal when he inspected work on the Obrakyere-Awutu trunk road, which was allegedly awarded to Messrs K. B. Annan Construction Limited about three years ago with the people of Awutu and Bontrase at the weekend.

The contractor was found to have abandoned the project halfway, leaving the portion between Bontrase and Awutu in a very deplorable state.

He suggested that since Ghanaian contractors do not have enough road construction equipment, it was imperative that each contractor was awarded with a project at a time and when successfully completed before he is awarded another project.

Mr Nyanney said if the suggestion is adopted it would go a long way to ensure that every contractor concentrates on the project in hand instead of clamouring for more projects, which he could not successful complete and leave them halfway to the detriment of the tax payer. He pointed out that since the country is in a HIPC state, every effort should be made to ensure that foreign loans and revenue generated locally from tax payers are utilised judiciously.

Mr Nyanney also suggested that those officials who are charged with supervising the works of contractors and recommend for payment for the contract sums should be surcharged with the cost of the projects, if later work was found to have been shoddily done by the said contractors. This measure, he observed, when applied would compel officials to ensure that contractors do quality work before they are paid. "The Ghanaian tax payers have suffered for far too long from shoddy works by some contractors with the connivance of some officials", Mr Nyanney lamented.

Mr Nyanney, however, appealed to the government to help Ghanaian contractors to assess foreign loans to procure modern road construction equipment to enable them produce quality work as well as to compete favourably with their foreign counterparts in the industry.

He finally appealed to the Central Regional Minister to ensure that the contractor in-charge of Obrakyere-Awutu trunk road returns to site to complete the project without any further delay, since the road has become impassable and dangerous to drivers and passengers who risk using the road.