Economy sinking due to government's failure to pay contractors - Emmanuel Cherry

Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Chamber of Construction Industries, Emmanuel Cherry, has said the wobbling state of the local economy is due to government's failure to settle the debts owed contractors. According to him, government, as of September this year owes contractors about GH¢10 billion. Speaking at a press conference in Accra, Mr Cherry said, “Approximately 10 billion Ghana cedis is in arrears as we speak. We are even being charitable with the figure. If we should log all together with the interest upon interest of delayed payment, it will be more than this honestly speaking." "So just imagine, government owing contractors such debt portfolio, see what it can do for the economic fiber of the country. so the reason why people are crying that there’s no money is because government has failed to pay contractors,” he stated. The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Chamber of Construction Industries further noted that all unpaid contractors were poised to take legal action against government for them to receive their due. He also called on government to announce how much proceeds from the E-Levy has been pumped into infrastructure development. Meanwhile, government in August this year announced that it will terminate the contract of contractors who fail to meet the deadline of the Agenda 111 project. He indicated that contractors must ensure that the timelines spelt out in the contract were met. ESA