He said Ghana has set a high-quality road construction standard that must not be compromised.

He gave the advice when he toured some road construction project sites in the Greater Accra Region, including the Tema Roundabout improvement project on Wednesday.

“It is significant, and I want to lay emphasis on the fact that, these projects must be carried out, executed and completed in a record time…this is the standard that I want all contractors working in our country to adopt and follow,” he said.

The Minister lamented that, the country lost huge sums of monies due to contracts whose completions were delayed.

He noted that, such contracts also had their quality compromised.

“Delay in project works, project implementation and project construction, bring in their trail a lot of negative effects, a lot of difficulties, and eventually it becomes costly to the government and in most cases if not managed, even quality is compromised,’’ he said.

Mr. Amoako Attah told Citi News that, an initial payment of GH¢600 million had been made by the ministry to various contractors to construct roads in various parts of the country.

He said the first payment was made in March and the second payment commenced last Friday.

“[From] the little that we have in the Road Fund, contractors are being paid. We started as far back as March. Contractors were paid something in the region of GH¢300 million. Last Friday, the Road Fund board approved about GH¢300 million and disbursement is going on,” he said.

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By: Ann-Shirley Ziwu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to Mr. Karbo, the previous administration’s decision to secure this loan, has led to releases to the Road Fund being hijacked by UBA.

[contextly_sidebar id=”RIySeITqTt8sdkEY9883Yomf2ZnKbbqO”]“Last year [2016], the fund committed itself to a UBA loan of over 1.5 billion to pay contractors. As we speak, the loan is kicked in and releases to the Road Fund has been hijacked by the bank …”

Responding to complaints about poor roads and the new government’s inability to begin work on these roads, Mr. Karbo said: “our hands are tied. We are in a difficult situation. My Ministers have had sleepless nights about the state of road.”

Mr. Karbo made this revelation while offering explanations on some stalled road projects, including the Tema Motorway.

We’ve no money to fix Accra-Tema motorway

The Deputy Minister attributed government’s inability to fix these roads to lack of funds.

There have been several calls on government to complete the interchange and fix other portions of the Tema Motorway which many motorists say is in a deplorable state.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr. Karbo said the Road Fund, which was specifically set up to finance road projects across the country, is cash-strapped to finance these projects.

“As we speak, the loan is kicked in and releases to the road fund have been hijacked ..Our hands are tied. We are in a very difficult situation. My Ministers have had sleepless nights and we all use the road on a daily basis” he lamented.

As part of measures to address these challenges, Mr. Karbo said government is currently seeking a strategic investor to fund various road projects.

“We are working tirelessly to ensure that beyond the limited resources available to government and Ministry to do these roads, we get a concessionaire or get a strategic investor. Indeed, many have come before the Ministry and expressed interest in working with us to ensure that at least the current tolls can be used. ”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Road Fund ‘hijacked’ by UBA over Ghc1.5bn loan – Karbo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is despite an earlier comment by the Roads Ministry that the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government left an ‘empty’ Road Fund coffers.

[contextly_sidebar id=”BoROvK2oEKQWksaCC8z0paMpsyC4mnT8″]The Roads Minister, Kwasi Amoako Attah told Citi News that the first payment was made in March and the second payment commenced last Friday.

He made the announcement while addressing the press after inspecting some roads in the Greater Accra region.

“[From] the little that we have in the Road Fund, contractors are being paid. We started as far back as March. Contractors were paid something in the region of GH¢300 million. Last Friday, the Road Fund board approved about GH¢300 million and disbursement is going on,” he said.

He added that the government is committed to using the Road Fund to tackle the “precarious roads that we have.”

The Deputy Minister of Roads, Kwabena Owusu Aduom, last week revealed that, money in the country’s Road Fund account was not enough and cannot cater for ongoing projects in the country

He told Citi News that the Ghana Road Fund was depleted such that, it will take some 10 years to pay for already awarded contracts.

He revealed that the money available would be used to service loans contracted by the former government but reacting to the claims on Eyewitness News on Tuesday, the former Deputy Minister said the “excuses” of the new administration were “too much.”

He argued that the new government must find ingenious ways of raising money to fund road projects as the former government did same despite the burden of paying back a loan the John Kufuor government had contracted.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t releases GH¢600m to pay road contractors appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.