Brong Ahafo council moves to check shoddy contractors

Berekum (Brong Ahafo) 23 March '99

The Brong-Ahafo Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) has directed district chief executives to ensure that all projects on contract "are satisfactorily executed before authorising payment to contractors". At a meeting of the Berekum district assembly, the Regional Minister, Mr Donald Adabre, warned that any consultant who would be "associated with shoddy work will be blacklisted". It is my avowed intention to ensure that the RCC's monitoring team continue to seriously monitor district assembly projects to check government resources from going to waste through shoddy work, he stated. Mr Adabre directed that all on-going projects must be completed, handed over and paid for before new ones are started. He urged district assemblies to ensure the judicious use of all funds they generate and receive from government and be accountable, adding that his administration would not deal lightly with those who do not observe strict financial discipline. Mr Adabre said with immediate effect, the policy of the RCC would be that any building contract awarded must contain some element of tree planting, so that contractors who complete their jobs but have not planted such trees would have their payments suspended. He expressed concern about the rate at which the environment is being degraded through improper sanitary practices, illegal chainsaw operations and bushfires and said this is not helpful to "our journey to the next millennium and Vision 2020". Mr J. H. Owusu-Acheampong, Minister of Food and Agriculture and Member of Parliament for Berekum, charged assembly members to use their power to implement government decisions at the grassroots to improve upon the lives of the people. He noted that the Auditor-General's report on the award of contract by some district assembles "is not encouraging" and therefore urged them to award contracts through the tender board. Mrs Mary Boakye, district chief executive, stated that the assembly realised 119.8 million cedis, out of its estimated revenue of 179.6 million cedis last year. This year, the assembly hopes to mobilise 2.2 billion cedis, with 302.5 million cedis expected from traditional sources. Mrs Boakye noted that the heavy demands on the assembly call for an effective revenue mobilisation programme that would explore new areas of revenue collection. The presiding member of the assembly, Mr Kofi Adoma, said 376 farmers in the district benefited from a 75 million-cedi poverty alleviation fund last year and that 200 million cedis has been allocated under the fund this year.