Axle load control stations tender under siege

ALMOST THREE years of engaging the services of private management firms to operate and manage weighbridge stations at various locations in the country, Management of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) says it is getting ready to engage new hands to once again take over the operations of the bridges by January next year. Over 70 private companies are reported to have participated in a national competitive bidding to secure the management contract from GHA to manage the operations of the axle load control stations constructed in the country constructed in the country that ensure that all vehicles using or accessing the roads are within the legally permissible axle load limits prescribed under the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 L.I. 2180. It has been gathered that whilst some companies bided for only one lot, others went in for two, four and six, whereas a few others, including SGS Limited, who had the capacity, bided for all the bridges, where one company now win more than one station contrary to initial clause put in the tender documents. Investigations revealed that there are some officials top GHA officials who have some backing of some powerful and influential people in government are manipulating the tender process to ensure that SGS Limited, a foreign company, wins all the weighbridges at all cost for their selfish gains, at the expense of the local ones that have so far proven to have applied the rules governing the operations of the bridges to the letter, a situation that is likely to breed corruption and it defeats the rationale behind engaging private hands to manage the weighbridges. Some pundits are therefore calling on the President to as a matter of urgency to stamp his feet on the ground and institute an investigative body to look at the alarming situation so as to avoid any manipulation whatsoever and allow due process to be followed. An axle load Specialist, Dr. Ebenezer Apeatu-Sekyere has warned of violation of the axle load control system and massive corruption should the Authority go ahead to contract one company to manage the operations of all the bridges. According to him, most of the bridges are located along one major corridor (Tema-Paga) and that in a situation where an operator commits an offence by taking bribes from a trucker and allows him to go off the hook at a particular station, it would not be corrected along the same route, since the rest of the bridges are under the same management. Meanwhile, a guideline for operation and management of weighbridge stations says that any mistake committed at the previous stations in terms of weight and fines/fees must be corrected and not covered or condoned at the station where it is detected. Thus, if one company is offered the chance to operate and manage all, then it would be difficult for such a thing be corrected for fear of being blacklisted by the Authority. “If SGS Limited should to be considered, it should not be given more than one lot on a particular corridor, since it is going to use Ghanaian personnel, and this is going to make the situation of bribes more endemic.” Dr. Apeatu-Sekyere maintained. In July 2010, the GHA contracted private companies to manage the operations of the 14 weighbridges at a national competitive bidding for a two-year period, to ensure that heavy-duty trucks keep to the permissible axle load limit in order to prolong the lifespan of the roads. This follows a successful pilot project of two of the bridges (Tema Motorway and that of Bogoso in the Western Region) which are European Funded Projects, which started in July 2007, after the Authority had recalled its staff manning the stations back to the office following an abysmal performance. Very credible information has revealed that some of the companies that bided for more than two lots, including SGS Limited, actually repeated personnel in the tender document, an indication that the same personnel would be manning various stations, should they win the bid. This means that they manipulated the system to have their way, and it is very critical that management of the Authority or the Tender Review Committee members should open their eyes to see those who have repeated personnel just to make their way through. According to analysts, the move to award the contract to SGS Limited would create a very serious problem to the local content, as most of the companies already managing these stations, are reported to have performed extra-ordinary. They argued that should one company be given the opportunity to manage all the stations, it will break the checks and balances that have existed since the bridges were privatized three years ago, since there would a cartel of corruption persons in the system which will dupe the country with colossal sum of money. Notwithstanding of this, the GHA is most likely to award these weighbridges to SGS Limited, which is already managing same in Kenya, and it is based on this that the Authority is considering bringing them on board in Ghana. The acting Deputy Chief Executive in-charge of Administration, Mr. Francis Hammond explaining the reason for the extension of the contracts to the end of the year, said it was done so new crop of people can come on board early 2014. Responding to rumours that SGS Limited was being considered to be given all the weighbridges, he said when the Authority invited tenders nobody was prevented from participating in the bidding. Mr. Hammond said that very soon Management would invite these who have won to take over the operations of the stations from next January. “If SGS Limited wins all, the question we should ask ourselves is, is it in the best interest to give all to them? But we also have to be mindful of our local content. We shall reach there,” he queried but was quick to add that they were mindful of developing local capacity.