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Government
urged to flush out dubious contractors
Cape Coast, Jan. 29, Ghanadot/GNA – The
Central Regional branch of the Ghana Road Contractors
Association (GRCOA) on Thursday appealed to government to as
a matter of urgency set up a committee to investigate and
retrieve mobilization funds paid to some “fraudulent
contractors” from outside the region, who have failed to
execute contracts awarded them within the region.
Mr. Hammond Larbi, President of the Association who made the
appeal at a press conference in Cape Coast expressed concern
that “a chunk of the taxpayers money was going down the
drain” as a result of such malpractices.
According to him, many of these contractors have, within the
past two to three years accessed the mobilization fund but
have abandoned the projects they were to execute, including
the Road Fund and the GETFund and that effort by the
government agencies in the industry to trace them have
proved futile.
He noted that such attitude did not augur well for the
future of the industry, and if not checked, could collapse
the local construction industry, and called on the
government to terminate all such contracts and reward them
to “serious and genuine” contractors in the region.
Mr Larbi expressed concern that, genuine contractors in the
country were rather being frustrated as their contract
certificates were not honoured on time after the completion
of their contracts, thereby making them to accrue more
interest on loans taken from the banks.
He stressed the need for up and coming contractors to be
encouraged by being awarded more contracts to help grow and
sustain them in the industry.
Mr Larbi suggested that in future, all contracts should be
networked for easy identification of contractors who
abandoned project in one region and moved to another in
search of other contracts.
He pledged the Association’s readiness to assist the
government to flush out recalcitrant contractors, in other
to “clean” the system to curb the “theft” of taxpayers’
money, and appealed to the road governing agencies to be
vigilant and collaborate with the Association to ensure
sanity in the industry.
Mr Amoako Boateng, Deputy Regional Director of the
Department of Feeder Roads, corroborated Mr Larbi’s claim
and said about five contractors who were awarded contracts
in the region within the past few years have abandoned them
and could not be traced.
He said this was the case because information provided, such
as telephone numbers and business addresses had all been
found to be fictitious, but could however not provide the
amount involved in such payments.
Mr Boateng observed that some contractors also do not have
requisite personnel like civil engineers and quantity
surveyors and also lacked the requisite equipment.
GNA
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