Suleman Sanid
Members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government on the tour of the northern sector of the country have expressed worry over the unusual delay in project implementation in some districts of the North East Region.
The MPs, who expressed the concern on Tuesday while inspecting projects funded by the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), asked for strengthening and coordination among public entities to resolve the problem.
The MPs were not particularly happy with the delay in Yunyoo-Nasuan District administration block project as the one-year execution period has already consumed two years with works still at the floor level.
The Vice Chairman of the Committee, Suleman Sanid, who led the team, said the Yunyoo experience is a classic example of project delay in various districts across the country, but what was worse was that fact that the contractor, Toobihi Ghana Limited, had abandoned the site for more than six months.
“What we see here is not impressive and we are not happy. This project was awarded to the contractor about two years ago and we are yet to see any significant progress,” he stated, adding “something urgent must be done about it to rescue the project, else this project will run into a lot of challenges.”
MP for Banda and Deputy Minority Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim said what makes the Yunyoo project delay awful was the fact that the money was allocated for the project and all that the contractor needed to do was to execute it and go for payment.
He also said in most of the tours, they have witnessed poorly executed projects.
“Once you have not been able to do the work [within the stipulated time], it means you’re punishing the local people here because of your inefficiency. Our recommendation, so far as this project is concerned, will be total abrogation of this contract for it to be repackaged and given to a new contractor to be able to bring it to completion,” the MP said.
He said that “We have been to Kassena Nankana West District and they have completed theirs. We’ve been to Garu and there it has been roofed and at Tempane it has been roofed. If you go to m ost of the districts the contractors have completed the projects and are being used,” adding “So we don’t understand why Toobihi Ghana Limited is still lagging behind and is at the floor level. Clearly speaking, this is totally unacceptable.”
Sene East MP, Dominic Napare shared his opinion saying “Wherever we went the DCEs and the Regional Ministers lamented about their non-involvement in the award of these projects and to the extent that they did not know who the consultants and the contractors were,” adding “So we are going to recommend to the Minister to make sure that he involves the local people in subsequent projects like these ones.”
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Yunyoo