Government asked to improve cement supply to the North

Tamale (Northern Region), 10 March '99 -

Alhaji Abukari Sumani, a contractor, has appealed to the government to find a lasting solution to the irregular supply of cement to the North Region which is holding up the execution of a number of development projects. "I have been given three months to complete nine culverts in the Kpandai area of the East Gonja District, but due to inadequate supply of cement, I do not think I can complete the work on schedule," he told newsmen in Tamale yesterday. He said although each culvert is expected to take about 120 bags of cement, it always takes Ghana Cement Company Limited (GHACEM) about two months to honour his average cement supply to 1,000 bags. Mr Issah Musah, Northern area representative of GHACEM admitted that contractors have been facing problems with supply since last year but assured them that the situation is being looked into for improvement. He said ideally, there should always be at least 20,000 bags in stock at the area depot in Tamale to satisfy customer demand but as at now only about 7,500 are available. Mr Musah attributed the problems to the transportation of cement from Takoradi instead of Tema, adding, "most big transporters are reluctant to leave Tema for Takoradi to cart cement to the North."