New Seat of Govt, Residence Near Completion

CONSTRUCTION WORK on the new seat of government and presidency, the $45 million President's Office and villa project, a symbol of Indo-Ghana friendship near the Flagstaff House in Accra, is progressing steadily as the days roll by.

The Government of India has been funding the project with USD 30 Million, soft loan with considerable amount of grant.

A facility visit to the site yesterday revealed that the ground plus four-storey tower being constructed by an Indian construction firm, Shapoorji Pallonji and Co. Ltd will be completed ahead of the 8th December 2007 deadline.

"My confidence in completing the assignment before schedule stems from the fact that my men, I mean every single worker is committed to the assignment given to them and have what it takes to deliver," Mr. S.K. Singh, the project Manager told The Chronicle at the site.

President's office comprises of, Block-A (known as President's Offices), Block-B (known as Vice President's office) and Block-C (known as Banquet Hall).

The fourth floor of Block-A tower will be used as the office of President. Third floor will be used as office of Chief of Staff and cabinet rooms.

Block-C First floor will be for the media briefing room and the ground floor will be for the conference room, banquet hall, kitchen, dining and Directors and Deputy Directors.

All these three blocks will be interconnected by covered corridors.

For a better maintenance purposes a service tunnel has been provided below the bldg. from where all the services are running through and can be easily access for the maintenance without any diggings.

Located on the same compound of Ghana's first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's residence, the project includes an ancient ground plus one storey building to house the President's visitors situated a few metres away from the tower.

The edifice cost of the work is far below the normal market cost charged by the other construction firms, the Indian construction firm, which has been in business for last 140 years, does not compromise quality.

And with quality work as its hallmark in its mission statement, Shapoorji Pallonji has constructed unaccountable projects worldwide and are determined to give their best examples.

"We believe in adopting to changing times and have accelerated the momentum of our growth by using modern management skills with state-of-the- art technology,' the project manager Mr. S. K. Singh said.

The project has secured the services of 800 Ghanaian labour forces in addition to the 223 Indian expatriates who Mr. Singh indicated would impart their knowledge to their Ghanaian counterparts.

"Because we don't compromise quality most of the materials we are using for the project are imported from India, the pipes we are using for instance, are not the usual PVC pipes that are commonly used in Ghana, what we are using is a PPR pipe, the advanced type of PVC," Mr. Sign stated.

According to Mr. Sigh, many were those who doubted his outfit's capability to complete the project on scheduled during a visit by Members of Council of State and Hon. Members of Parliaments, left here a few weeks ago convinced and were impressed with the progress of work," he revealed.

There are some essential works like road, landscaping, external security and lighting systems, interior, IT solutions/equipments, furniture's and furnishing, services connections needs to be finalized by the Clients to ensure the completion of Presidential complex in totality and make it functional fully. There are some military/police officials are still occupying the complex premises and need to be relocated immediately to start some essential structures works to ensure 100% completion of the complex.

Mr. Singh pointed out that his outfit would renovate the house of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, which has been left unattended.

Sharpoorji Pallonji, among other projects, constructed the World Trade Centre, the Rabat Stadium, Skoda Auto factory, the most recent and prized automobile project, the Volvo project in India, among other projects.

The construction firm is also into commercial, automobiles, hospitals, industrials, hotels and other ventures.