Road contractors urged to desist from paying bribes

Kumasi, Feb 6, GNA - Local road contractors have been urged to desist from giving out money to officials and engineers in the Transportation Ministry as an inducement to win contracts. Mr Samuel Ofori Ntorinkansah, an executive member of the Progressive Road Contractors Association (PROCA), who made the call, said bribery and corruption, which had engulfed the processes of awarding contracts in the country, had contributed to the execution of shoddy works, especially in the road sector. Addressing a meeting of the Ashanti Regional branch of PROCA in Kumasi on Tuesday, Mr Ntorinkansah, said payment of bribes and other forms of inducement to win contracts were "killing" local contractors who in turn execute shoddy works which had created bad names for them. He said the association had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with an equipment supplies firm in Holland to provide members new machinery on credit basis to facilitate their work. The association is also negotiating with the company to establish plant pools in the regions to support local contractors. Mr Ntorinkansah stressed the need for members of the Association to team up and form a company to bid and win big contract jobs, adding that they were also negotiating with some banks to provide financial support to members. He said the Association would embark on training programmes to equip members with managerial skills to run their businesses.