• Roads Minister Amoako-Attah revealed the money was sourced from the Finance Ministry
• The move follows the inauguration of 14-member Road Fund Board to ensure payments are made on time
The Minister of Roads and Railways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, has assured government’s commitment to pay all outstanding debts owed contractors across the country.
Speaking at the inauguration of the 14-member Road Fund Board, he disclosed that the process began about a month and half ago, the report by Citi News said.
“I am happy to announce to you that government has for almost one and half months now started robustly and in earnest payment to contractors, and you would know that payments come from two main areas. Either Government of Ghana which is from the ministry of finance and then the road fund and substantial payments have already been made to contractors around the country and the records are there even as I inaugurate this board on behalf of his excellency the president.”
“The Ministry of Finance is beginning to release GHS800 million to pay contractors across the country and the documentation to that effect is ready and is being sent to the Ministry of Finance and the Finance Minister has made that money available,” he added.
Contractors have for some months chastised government for non-payment of monies government due them while threatening legal action.
The Vice President Ghana Chamber of Contractors, Adam Bonaa, had in an earlier interview with GhanaWeb noted the delay was largely due to government’s delay in constituting public sector boards across the various ministries.
This agitation was followed by calls of the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Contractors, Emmanuel Cherry, on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to, as a matter of urgency, establish a Road Fund Board to ensure the payment of contractors.
The Board is expected to ensure the routine and periodic maintenance of the country’s road network is properly financed.
On his part the Board’s Chair, Member of Parliament for Effutu Constituency, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, averred that members will work “wholeheartedly” and “without reservation”, as a team, to ensure their mandate is efficiently executed.
“Let me state that we wholeheartedly accept the appointment without any reservation. As a team, we will work together to execute the mandate of the fund for the benefit of the good people of Ghana. Indeed, the thrust of our gathering here today is effectively statutory in character, i.e. the swearing-in of the new Road Fund Management board.”
“In my view, however, the reason we are here is more than just statutory, in fact, many more Ghanaians are likely to die out of road accidents due in part to driver indiscipline and the poor quality of most of our roads this carnage I believe must end. As a board, we can play our role towards ending the slaughter on our roads by working diligently to ensure that the quality of our roads, highways, and bridges improves remarkably. Accordingly, the task ahead of us involves prudent management of the proceeds coming to the fund and ensuring that the quality of our roads, highways, and bridges provide the highest level of quality and user safety”.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry has welcomed the newly inaugurated Road Fund Board
The Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Emmanuel Cherry, noted the setup of the Board has been long overdue although “it is better late than never”.
In his words, “it is something that we have craved for long, however, it is better late than never, so there is no need to cry over spilt milk. As we speak, all we need to do is to put our hands together and try as much as possible to receive the board that would be inaugurated and put in place.” Read Full Story
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