Skip to main content

Government to release $1bn to road contractors

Mr Kwesi Amoako-Attah speaking to journalists
The government is to release $1 billion to the Ministry of Roads and Highways to settle outstanding debts to road contractors and to complete and maintain road networks in the country.
This is expected to settle road contractors who have already invested, and to ensure the completion of roads currently under construction.
The sector Minister, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah, who announced this, said the move was to improve upon the road system to drive the socio-economic development agenda of the government.
Strategic meeting
Mr Kwesi Amoako-Attah said since assuming office the government had already paid $4 billion in outstanding debts to contractors working on various road projects in the country.
He was speaking at a three-day strategic management workshop organised by the ministry and christened “Ghana Beyond Aid — Strategies for Sustainable Investment and Road Asset Preservation” at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region.
He said it was the government’s desire to eliminate the occurrence of abandoned road projects usually occasioned by non-payment of funds to contractors.
“The ministry will be taking decisions proactively to ensure projects are awarded to people who have the needed expertise and competence in order to avoid some of the unnecessary delays in project execution,” he emphasised.
Toll booth revenue
He said the ministry was taking measures to block all avenues of revenue leakages especially from the various toll booths to achieve the needed revenue targets of the ministry.
Mr Amoako-Attah said the ministry had received an approval from the Public Procurement Authority to undertake a private management of 20 high revenue-earning toll stations in the country to provide services which included rehabilitation and maintenance of those stations and the provision of a well-tested electronic system to check leakages at the toll booths.
He said the ministry had taken over all cocoa roads that were started but halted midway, and assured the contractors that all outstanding debts would be settled.
Warning
The Minister cautioned regional directors and departmental heads in the ministry to live above reproach and support the government’s effort in improving the road sector, and warned that “anybody who tries to sabotage the progress of the ministry and government will be dealt with accordingly.”
He challenged participants at the workshop to dispassionately develop sustainable solutions for the preservation of road assets and other issues confronting the sector.
Senior Minister
The Senior Minster, Mr Yaw Osafo Marfo, urged the ministry to consider deepening its collaboration with academic institutions such as the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, technical universities and research institutions to help develop cost-effective solutions to the challenges facing the road sector.
In a speech read on his behalf, he encouraged the ministry to adopt the use of construction materials that had stable and predictable prices, were durable and were generally available for cost-effective roads that required less rehabilitation and repairs.

 Source: Graphic.com.gh

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Invest your profits back into farming - COCOBOD boss to Cocoa Farmers

Joseph Boahen Aidoo is Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has charged cocoa farmers to be business minded in operating their farms and to partake fully in the various programmes introduced by COCOBOD to ensure good farm yields and to increase profits. "Good farming practices, like pruning, the timely application of fertilizers and proper pests control are essential at all times," he said. Joseph Boahen Aidoo stated this while interacting with farmers in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions, on the first day of his week-long tour of cocoa farms across the county. He was accompanied by the Deputy Chief Executive of Operations at COCOBOD, Dr Emmanuel Opoku, as well, as Directors and Research Scientists from COCOBOD. The tour is aimed at assessing the level of farmer participation in the various farm productivity improvement programmes implemented by COCOBOD; it is also...
Post a Comment
Read more

AFCON 2019: Coach Kwesi Appiah drops Asamoah Gyan?

Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan Black Stars Skipper, Asamoah Gyan could be dropped from the 23-man contingent for the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt, Coach Kwesi Appiah has hinted. This came to light when some journalists visited the coach with a prophet at his private residence in Kumasi. The prophet (name withheld) had gone to tell the coach that he had had a vision that, “Asamoah Gyan and Andre “Dede” Ayew was returning from Egypt leading the national team with the African Cup that they had won for the country”. But the coach reportedly impressed on the prophet to “work around Dede Ayew if he could, because Asamoah Gyan would be dropped since he’s battling with injury and also out of form”. Kwesi Appiah, who has no option but to win the AfCON or lose his job, reportedly said, “I can’t rely on Gyan so it’s likely I would drop him”. Ghana looks to win the AfCON after 37 years with a potential squad that has been labelled as “feeble and inferior”, as comp...
Post a Comment
Read more

Physically challenged student wins Quran competition and gets all-expenses-paid Hajj trip

Master Luqman Swallah (INSET) A 17-year-old physically challenged student of the Aswaj Islamic School at Techiman in the Bono East Region, on Sunday came up tops at the Twellium National Quran Recitation Competition, aimed at promoting the studying of the Quran as a way to help the youth eschew social vices.  For his prize, Master Luqman Swallah is getting an all-expenses-paid trip to Mecca in Saudi Arabia to be part of the Hajj pilgrimage to holy sites this year. In addition to the all-expenses-paid pilgrimage, Master Swallah also won a GH?20,000 cash prize, a NASCO tablet as well as assorted products from Twellium. He won the Kamil Ma'a Tafsir category, finishing ahead of Ashanti regional representative, Mohammed Sani and Saeed Mohammed Qasim of the Western Region who placed second and third respectively. In an interview after receiving his prize, Master Swallah said he never dreamt of going on the Hajj because he was from a poor home. He expressed gratitude to God and the sp...
Post a Comment
Read more