Parliament has approved a revised contract sum of $877.6 million for the construction of a multi-purpose hydro power dam at Pwalugu in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region, and 24,000-hectare irrigation scheme located at Pwalugu and West Mamprusi District in the North East Region.
The contract, which is to be executed by POWERCHINA International Group Limited, was put before Parliament on December 23, 2019 for approval but the original project cost of $964.8 million, which sparked debate between the Majority and the Minority in Parliament over the real value of the project, delayed the approval till Wednesday when the revised contract was unanimously approved by both sides.
The is the sole financier of the project with initial commitment of $15 million captured in the 2020 budget and $75.5 million from the government’s 2020 Eurobond for the first year payment of the project cost.
The reviewed contract figure was arrived at for consensus approval when Parliament unanimously decided to deduct a total withholding tax of $89.2 million from the contract sum which, according to Parliament, would eventually go to the government who is the principal financier and not the recipient of the income.
The project will include resettlements of 450 households comprising about 20 communities in the catchment areas, construction of 18-km access road, provision of schools, hospitals, potable water and chief’s palace for the resettlement community, as well as compensation to farmers for crops on the affected lands, all from an amount of $60 million set aside from the contract sum for those aforementioned purposes.
Giving details on the project before the approval, the Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Odotobri, Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi, said after the completion of the project, it would reduce the flooding effects of spillage from the Bagre Dam in neighbouring Burkina Faso and ensure socio-economic development of the area through improved, efficient and cost-effective irrigated all year-round agricultural production and hydro-power generation.
“Mr. Speaker, the EPC contractor is committed to employing 2,000 skilled and unskilled Ghanaians during the construction of the hydro power dam and solar power facilities which will include the construction of camp buildings, new resettlement homes, water and power supply infrastructure, landscaping and provision of security at the project sites to be subcontracted to local companies,” the chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee told Parliament.
Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said he did not understand why President Akufo-Addo could perform the sod-cutting ceremony for the project while the contract had not been approved by Parliament, stressing that the President ought to respect the authority of the House.
He said the Minority still has issues with the cost of the project and that since the contract was awarded through sole-sourcing, there would not be value-for-money assessment for such a huge project which is very important for monitoring and evaluation.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Talensi, Benson Tongo Baba, in whose district the project is located, praised the government for actualizing the project which he said was conceived by Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
He said the actualization of the project would not only bring development to the district but also help improve the socio-economic well-being of the people and prayed that the government promptly paid the needed compensation to the affected farmers and individuals for the project to be completed on time.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr