The Minority Chief Whip in Parliament, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has made claims that the government intends to fund the construction of a new conference centre, estimated to cost $150 million, opposite the National Cathedral.

This, he said in a tweet that was sighted by GhanaWeb.

These plans come after a Structural Audit Report recommended the demolition of the current Accra International Conference Centre (AICC).

According to him, the AICC was to be demolished two weeks ago after the government procured a Structural Audit Report on the building.

“Do you know that the International Conference Centre would have been demolished last two weeks? The government procured a Structural Audit Report backing the demolition. At the same time, the government is ready to fund a new one at $ 150 million opposite the National Cathedral,” he said in the tweet.

The AICC, commissioned in 1991, has long served as a venue for major national and international events and is being reported as a ticking time bomb due to structural defects.

The defects are posing serious threats to the edifice.

Currently, most of the columns that support that huge edifice have the concrete that covers the iron rods peeling off.

The development has compromised the structural integrity of the building.

During a tour by members of the Foreign Affairs Committee to some installations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs it came to light that many huge columns have their iron rods affected by corrosion, a problem blamed on lack of maintenance and weather elements.

A Structural Engineer with the Ghana Institute of Engineering, Mark Addo, said most of the columns that are affected have “30% of the concrete peeled off.”

He warned any severe external pressure can bring the entire building down.

“If there’s a severe buckle, it can cause the building to collapse,” he said.

The committee also toured the new passport office which is under renovation following the decision to demolish the existing one to make way for construction of the National Cathedral.

The final point of call for the members was the Foreign Affairs Training Institute.



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