Ernest Arthur
THE GHANA Highway Authority (GHA) has rubbished a directive that quarry materials from metamorphic source of Shai area in the Greater Accra Region are not suitable for concrete projects.
According to GHA, quarry aggregates from Shai area can be used for all major concrete, asphalt mixes and road construction works thereby the directive is void and of no effect.
They explained further that there is no basis for exclusion of aggregates from the Shai areas as long as it can be confirmed that tests conducted on such aggregates meet the quality requirements in the specification.
A directive contained in the bidding document for the improvement of the Ghanaian International Corridors, Grade Separation of Tema Intersection, had a clause consciously excluding quarry materials from Shai Hills over unproven allegation that it contains alkaline.
But speaking with DAILY GUIDE via telephone on the development, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GHA, Mr. Ernest K. Arthur, described the exclusion of Shai material in the bidding document as a mistake.
According to him, GHA has communicated with the consultant of the Tema roundabout project to use materials from any source when it meets the standard specification for the project.
He suspects the insertion clause in the bidding document was a deliberate attempt by an individual or people to sabotage quarry operators in the Shai area, a decision he categorically stated “GHA frowns on”.
Meanwhile, a submission of minutes of the meeting on exclusion of Shai Hills materials held at the boardroom of the GHA firmly indicated that exclusion of quarry materials from Shai Hills is not the position of GHA or the Ministry of Roads and Highway.
He also indicated that the mention of specific trade names and suppliers in specification formulation was not the best practice, adding that GHA wrote to CTI to respond and correct the anomaly but CTI indicated that exclusion of the Shai Hills material was inserted into the bidding documents at the time of finalization of the bidding document during the commencement of the implementation stage.
The meeting which was attended by management and staff of GHA including the CEO, Mr. Ernest K. Arthur, who acted as the chairman of the meeting, explained that the addendum to the bidding documents clarified that tenders could use materials from Shai Hills provided they met the quality requirements of the specification for concrete, asphalt mixes and road aggregates.
From Vincent Kubi, Tema