No Jobs for Ghanaian Masons

Nationals of Togo and Benin are said to have taken over the building and construction sector of the economy, edging Ghanaian masons out of jobs.

Business Day has gathered that the increasing number of masons from the two neighbouring countries is mainly because property developers see the two French speaking West African nationals as being more hardworking and trustworthy than their Ghanaian counterparts when it comes to delivering on work.

The declining fortune of Ghanaian masons is also due to Ghanaian Building and Construction (BC) certificate holders from the various technical universities snubbing the construction sector, sources have revealed.

Testifying to the claims, Nii Hefo Betsofa Asere I, the Chief of Bortianor in the Ga South municipality of Accra and Acting Dzasetse of the Bubuashi stool, said he believes in Togolese artisans more than the Ghanaian masons. He added that they are hardworking than their Ghanaian counterparts who he says have grown lazy over the years.

Nii Asere I, who is also a property developer, said because of the trustworthiness of the Togolese masons, he has handed over one of his properties in the plush East Legon area to one of them even though he can hardly speak any language besides the Togolese Ewe language and French.

Six out of ten

The building sector is key for the infrastructural development needs of the country. In Accra, there are many construction sites which have taken in nationals of Ghana's francophone neighbours.

Business Day's investigations at Adjirigano, one of the hubs for the construction of plush multi-million cedi mansions in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), uncovered evidence of the influx of the French-speaking West African artisans.

There are more of these foreign artisans at construction sites in Spintex, Airport, Ridge, Abelemkpe, Dzorwulu, West Legon, Adenta, among others, and they are making a windfall in the building sector at the expense of Ghanaian artisans, construction site supervisor Chief Kortey disclosed to Business Day.

According to him, the foreigners are well-vexed in the application of Plaster Of Paris (POP), plastering and tiling.

He estimates that of every ten masons at a major construction site, six will most likely be a mix of Togo and Benin nationals with the remaining four being unskilled Ghanaians, popularly known as labourers.

There are suggestions that the Ghanaian masons are more concerned with money and do haphazard jobs whilst their foreign counterparts, who are not fluent in the English Language, spend time on the job and bring out the beauty of the work.

Agents and caretakers

Business Day is reliably informed that luring the French speaking west Africans into Ghana's construction sector has become such a lucrative business that there are agents in Ghana facilitating their entry into the country at the beckon of contractors.

Reports also say some of these foreign artisans were even trained here on the job by masters who happen to be their natives.

Getting accommodation for them is not such a difficult task as the foreign artisans are esteemed as better caretakers of uncompleted building projects.

In these unfinished buildings, they would fix a room and live in while they work, ultimately taking over another area that used to be the preserve of the Ghanaian artisans.

In some cases they are paid for their services and in certain cases they are made to sleep in the property with their family in lieu of pay, Business Day learned.

Finding out

The greater concern for some leaders in the construction sector is the fact that certificated masons from the various technical universities are opting for top-up courses in the humanities after their Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Accra Technical University (ATU), Fausta Ganaa, in an interview indicated that it is important to find out from industry players why they are opting for the foreign masons instead of Ghanaian masons.

"We had instances where industry players have come with a request and we supply them with manpower in accordance with the rules and regulations of the school."

The PRO said "If it's a matter of commitment towards the job, the industry players must let us know before something can be done.

"When it comes to the training of students, those from the various technical institutes are made do the HND course for two years and this has proven to keep students up to speed with the course," she pointed out.

She maintained that it could be a matter of the trained professionals from the various technical universities running away from the sector.

On the other hand, Samuel Amegayibor, President of Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), told Business Day that even though he has no statistics to back the claims the that the foreigners are increasing in number, all indications point to the fact that there are large numbers of them in the system.

According to him, he has observed that the artisans from the French speaking countries are committed to the job unlike their Ghanaian counterparts.

He revealed that in the tiling sector, they constitute about fifty per cent as majority of contractors prefer their craft works to that of Ghanaians.

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