Kofi Hayford addressing the minister and some journalists
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Collins Dauda, has expressed disappointment over the slow pace of work on three key projects in the Ho municipality of the Volta Region.
“I am highly disgusted about the slow pace of work on the three projects we visited today. It is like both the consultants on the project and the contractors among other key players have neglected supervision to the extent that much remains to be done for the project to be completed and handed over to beneficiaries,” he remarked.
The minister, who was accompanied by the Volta Regional Minister, Helen Adwoa Ntoso, the Municipal Chief Executive, Fafa Adinyirah, other directors of the ministry and representatives from the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC), expressed the worry at the end of a day’s projects inspection tour of the municipality last Thursday.
The ongoing projects, under the Ghana Urban Management Pilot Project (GUMPP), include the conversion of the Ho Central Market into an ultra-modern one, a state-of-the-art abattoir with ancillary facilities to match and an improved landfill site.
According to Alhaji Dauda, the three projects and others currently under construction in Tamale, Takoradi and Kumasi, are being funded under a special facility from Agence Francaise Development (AFD) at a cost of 40 million Euros.
The minister said he had ordered for a meeting with the contractors and the consultants as well as other key players in his office on Thursday, August 25, 2016, before he would decide on the next line of action.
All the four contractors on the three projects blamed the delay on bureaucracies at the ministries, particularly with regards to honouring certificates of payments of work done so far.
The contractors are Messrs Sey Construction Limited, working on the Abattoir project; Santa Bam and Big Omen, working on the Market project while the Landfill site is being handled by a Chinese company.
The Resident Consultant on the Projects, Kofi Hayford, said the challenges facing the contractors had to do with payments. He indicated that his outfit had on several occasions warned the contractors over their sluggish attitude to work.
According to him, his outfit was ready to issue the contractors with notice of Liquidated Ascertain Damage (LAD) – implying that they would receive penalties of monetary deductions.
When contacted, the Regional Minister, Helen Ntoso and the Municipal Chief Executive, Fafa Adinyirah, declined to comment on the issue.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (freduoo@gmail.com)