Judul : Govt's Pledge to Release Gh₵4bn to Contractors Commendable - Lands Minister
link : Govt's Pledge to Release Gh₵4bn to Contractors Commendable - Lands Minister
Govt's Pledge to Release Gh₵4bn to Contractors Commendable - Lands Minister
The announcement last Tuesday by the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza, that government will by the end of this month release an amount of GH¢4 billion to pay road contractors is good news to many Ghanaians.
He disclosed this during a meeting with contractors, Municipal Chief Executives and road transport operators in Accra, and gave the assurance that stalled road projects across the country will soon resume.
According to the Minister, the amount forms part of the GH¢21 billion owed to contractors for road projects executed.
The disbursement, he explained, is aimed at enabling contractors to mobilise back to site or complete ongoing road works which had been abandoned.
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Among the key roads expected to benefit from this release are the Ofankor-Nsawam, Adentan-Dodowa, Ashaiman-Akosombo, and Kasoa-Winneba roads.
It is no exaggeration to say that the deteriorating state of many roads across the country has become a source of frustration and concern for commuters and drivers alike.
The uncompleted roads pose a serious challenge to movement and comfort, increasing travel time and operational costs.
It is, therefore, no surprise that residents of Amasaman, Pokuase, Medie, Nsawam and adjoining communities, on Saturday, July 12, demonstrated over the delay in the reconstruction of that stretch of the road.
The Ghanaian Times understands and shares the frustration commuters of such roads are going through. Travelling on some of these stretches takes several hours, leaving passengers and drivers exhausted and inconvenienced.
In addition, due to the nature of the roads, some commercial drivers have taken advantage of the situation to charge exorbitant fares, often splitting the journey into multiple segments, thereby increasing the cost of travel for the already burdened commuters.
The issue is further compounded by the fact that many contractors, as the Minister rightly stated, were compelled to borrow funds to pre-finance projects with the hope of timely reimbursement.
However, the government's delay in honouring certificates for work done--some dating as far back as 2018--rendered such operations financially unsustainable, forcing many contractors to leave the site of the projects.
We commend the current government for the move to pay GH¢4 billion of the outstanding GH¢21 billion debt owed to contractors. It is a step in the right direction. It demonstrates an acknowledgement of the seriousness of the situation and a commitment to address the problem.
As Mr Agbodza indicated, the President, John Dramani Mahama, has directed the Ministry of Finance to take the necessary steps to "retire" part of the debt to allow contractors to return to site. This directive must be treated with urgency and followed through with action.
While The Ghanaian Times lauds the government for taking this bold step, we urge that the disbursement of the funds must be timely and transparent.
The delays in settling contractor debts do not only affect the livelihoods of the contractors and their workers but also increase the overall cost of completing such projects due to inflation, material price changes, and re-mobilisation costs.
We further advise that in the future, government must refrain from awarding road contracts it has not made budgetary allocations for.
Adopting this principle would help prevent the recurrence of such large debts and reduce the frequency of stalled projects. Road construction is a capital-intensive venture and must be approached with sound financial planning.
The Ghanaian Times also encourages regular audits and public reporting on road projects to ensure efficiency and accountability in the use of public funds. The practice of commencing projects without sufficient funding only results in wastage of tax payer's money and compound the public debt.
We laud the government for the decision to release GH¢4 billion to contractors and hope that this will pave the way for the swift completion of stalled road projects.
We also call on government to put in place sustainable measures to prevent a reoccurrence of the current situation, to ensure that Ghanaians enjoy better roads and improved transportation services.
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Tagged: Ghana, Governance, Land and Rural Issues, West Africa
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