Ashanti Regional Minister meets road contractors
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Simon Osei-Mensah, has stated that he will only sign certificates for the payment of road contracts only when he has personally visited the constructed roads and attested to their completion through due diligence.
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He explained that the move was to ensure value for money for the tax payer and also offer him the opportunity to examine the state of road networks in the region for the determination of future road contracts.
The Regional Minister who stated this when the Ashanti Regional Executive of Road Contractors of Ghana paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Kumasi explained that some of the delays in signing the certificates was not deliberate but for value for money purposes.
The members of the association also raised concerns about the ineffectiveness in the tendering process in awarding contracts and alleged that most ‘unqualified’ people through the help of some big hands in the past won contracts through the backdoor.
Minister
“I’ve made it a point to visit all sites to be convinced before I append my signature to any certificate … this is also to allow me the opportunity to know each road network in the region. What I want to do this time is that we will prioritise the roads we want to do so that it will serve the total benefit of the region and not constructing roads for the sake of it,” the minister stated.
Road Neglect
He bemoaned the neglect of the roads in the region which had culminated in increasing deterioration of most Highway roads, accidents and slump in local economic activities.
He said it was unfortunate how the roads in the Eastern and Ashanti regions have been denied their fair share of resources in the past eight years and gave the assurance that his administration will make sure things were done right.
“There have been massive deterioration of roads; only 49 percent of highway roads are in good shape as of now. At the time we were leaving office, the region had about 90 percent of its highway roads in better condition but it has deteriorated to 49 percent and this to us is really bad and incomprehensible”, Mr Osei-Mensah lamented.
Contractors
Some of the contractors also raised concerns about the ineffectiveness in the Tendering process in awarding contracts as most unqualified people through the help of some big hands in the past won contracts through the backdoor.
The chairman of the association, Mr Emmanuel Boateng, said due to neglect their equipment have been gathering dusts for the past eight years and added that “interestingly, those who win the contracts through the backdoor rely on them for their equipment before they could do the work”.
He urged the new administration rely on the association for road projects in the region “because we have the experience and the requisite equipment to carry out any project in the country…we have done this job for several years and we understand the terrain very well so we pray that your administration relies on us to help.”
