Aburi Girls SHS needs its residential building
Last week, the Daily Graphic carried a story where a completed residential building for teachers of Aburi Girls Senior High School (SHS) has been abandoned for the past four years because the contractor has refused to hand over the project for use.
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Daily Graphic checks reveal that while the contractor insists he needs to be paid additional money to enable him to complete the work, the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) Secretariat, the financier of the project, says it does not owe the contractor.
The GETFund Secretariat provided proof of schedule confirming the full payment explaining that consistent with every contract, the financier holds a retention against defects which will be paid to the contractor after the defect liability period has lapsed.
Unfortunately, amid all this back and forth, some critical staff of the school continue to bear the brunt of the closure.
The Daily Graphic sees this development as unacceptable and charges the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to listen to wise counsel by the GETFund to go for the keys to the building since full payment had been made.
We are of the conviction that the position of the contractor that he executed the project with a loan from the bank and that he had used the money the government paid the company to service the loan and, therefore, was left with nothing to fully complete the project is unacceptable.
We urge GETFund not to release any extra money for the completion of the building while the RCC gets the contractor to do the right thing.
The GETFund should not be seen as a charity where its funds meant for the execution of projects are misconstrued as free money but a well-thought-out intention to address an urgent problem and in this case, accommodation facility for critical staff of the Aburi Girls’ SHS.
The position of the contractor that it is not possible to hand over the building to be used by the teachers because it is not completed is neither here nor there because if GETFund has honoured its part of the bargain, the contractor cannot say he does not have any money to complete it.
Unfortunately, the 16-unit facility has developed cracks, while the roofing leaks badly anytime it rains heavily.
The issue of shoddy work has been the bane of many projects, especially government-awarded projects, where contractors get away with such slipshop execution.
Such shoddy works are surely not only a financial loss to the country, but a drain on the limited public purse and such contractors must be held accountable.
The Daily Graphic believes that if a project is awarded to a contractor, it means the contractor has demonstrated what it takes to execute the project.
It is expected that the contractor has the financial muscle to handle such projects.
So, for the contractor to complain that he took a loan and had to repay it when the contract sum was paid him should not even come into the picture because that is what he is required to do.
The teachers, and for that matter the school, Aburi Girls SHS, do not need to know the source of funding for the project.
All they need is that the project is completed and handed over for use.
The project was awarded on contract because there was the need for it, and for GETFund to provide full funding in 2020 and for the contractor to still have the keys in his possession as of 2023 while the expected beneficiaries continue to struggle, is unacceptable.
Accommodating teachers on the school premises ensures proper monitoring and supervision of the activities of students so it is not proper that the school and the staff cannot have access to the building.
Surely, this standoff between the contractor and the RCC does not augur well for effective and efficient delivery of quality teaching and learning in the school.
Unless there are other unknown causes, the facts available are clear so the contractor must be compelled to complete and hand over the building for use.
