Tamale Metropolis to benefit from 449 billion cedis road infrastructure

Tamale, Nov. 15, GNA - The government has committed 449 billion cedis this year for road infrastructure within the Tamale Metropolis. The projects financed under the Ghana Road Fund, involves the rehabilitation, resealing and regravelling of some roads in the Metropolis.

Culverts and drains of some of the roads would also be improved to enhance vehicular and human movement.

Mr. Charles Bugapeh, a Development Engineer of the Department of Urban Roads, announced this in Tamale on Tuesday during a Performance Agreement signing ceremony between the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly and eight contractors undertaking the projects. He urged the contractors to produce quality work and execute the projects as scheduled to save the government from incurring additional cost.

Mr. Bugapeh warned that any of the contractors who failed to execute the projects within the stipulated period without any reasonable excuse, would have his contract terminated and the company blacklisted. Mr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive signed the Performance Agreement document on behalf of the Assembly with the contractors.

He reminded them that they were operating under the Assembly and as such, they were required to pay the business operation fees to it. The Tamale Mayor observed that contractors who had equipment to undertake projects had taken undue advantage of this and monopolised the sector.

Such contractors, he said, had taken on too many contracts, which they were unable to execute within the stipulated time thereby making the government to incur additional cost on the projects.

Mr. Adam therefore, warned them that the Assembly would be compelled to encourage other contractors from outside the region with the requisite equipment to compete with them to break the monopoly. He announced that the Assembly had started discussions with the Tractor and Equipment Company to establish a plant pool in the metropolis to help local contractors to have access to equipment to enhance their work.

He appealed to the government to channel all budgetary allocations of the decentralised departments into the Assembly's account to avoid duplication of projects and ensure prompt payment for work done. Mr. Adam urged the Assembly Members to be pro-active and take firm control of their supervisory and monitoring roles to promote sanity and cooperation between the people and the contractors in their electoral areas.

He urged the contractors to factor into their operations HIV/AIDS education programmes in the communities as part of their social responsibility.