Government urged to change conditions for award of contracts

Koforidua, May 10, GNA- Members of the Eastern Regional Branch of the Association of Building and Civil Contractors of Ghana has appealed to Government to revert to the policy of awarding contracts to contractors whose bids were within the ten per cent more or less of the estimated price of the project.

They explained that, such policy enables contractors to use the appropriate materials for their projects to ensure quality work, which would benefit the country.

The appeal was made at a meeting of the association at Koforidua on Wednesday, when the issue of shoddy work by some contractors came up for discussion.

The contractors maintain that, the current situation where the contract is awarded to the lowest bidder was not the best, because most often the prices quoted were not realistic for the project. They claim that companies, which normally win contracts by quoting lower bids buy and use inferior materials to enable them complete the project within the value of the contract leading to poor quality of work.

Addressing the meeting, the Regional Chairman of the Association, Mr Obeng Yeboah urged members of the association to ensure quality work of their projects and avoid shoddy jobs. He advised members to prove their knowledge and experience as contractors by ensuring that their finished products meet all the requirements in the contract agreements, even if the consultant and their clerks of works were not regular at the project site.