Pro-opposition pressure group, Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), wants government to reduce the cost being quoted for the dredging of the Odaw River and the construction of drains among others. The group warned they will be forced to demonstrate against the government if their demands are not met.<\/p>\n
General Secretary of AFAG, \u00a0Arnold Boateng, made this known\u00a0after the group paid a visit to the Odaw River on Tuesday, where the dredging is underway.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”3ipoCDl809NFBE9KalbTcmc57jeXh0Eq”]Comparing the cost of the Conti project to the cost of a similar one on the river Niger, Mr. Boateng said \u201ca similar project on the river Niger covers over 75km with cities and green zones being constructed. That project cost as low as $200 million. So AFAG does not understand why less than 10km dredging operation with virtually no flowing river will cost the taxpayers more than $600 million.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described the cost of the dredging project as \u201ca rip-off\u201d and therefore called on the government \u201cto abrogate it\u201d or they (AFAG) will get Ghanaians \u201cto the streets to put a stop to this rip-off of our scarce resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
Government signed a $660 million contract with the Conti Group of Companies of the United States of America in what has been termed the Conti Project.<\/p>\n
Under the project, the Odaw River, the Lavender Hill and a number of storm drains were to be desilted and built to prevent the perennial flooding in the city.<\/p>\n
Mr. Arnold Boateng was quick to add that AFAG was not against the dredging of the river.<\/p>\n
He said \u201clet me put on record that AFAG is not against the dredging of the Odaw River.\u00a0We support it 100 percent in principle, what we are against is the cost of the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
He called for the involvement of local professionals in the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe suggest the Ghana Institute of Engineers or any other professional grouping be engaged to help solve this vicious and emotionally wrecking cycle. We can do it locally at a lesser cost\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In 2015, over 140 Ghanaians perished through a twin disaster of fire and flooding partly caused by the\u00a0overflow of the\u00a0Odaw River near the Kwame Nkrumah circle.<\/p>\n
This led to the reassurance by government to fully dredge the Odaw River to avert any such disaster in the future.<\/p>\n
Although\u00a0Citi News<\/strong> checks reveal work is ongoing at the site, Mr. Boateng said there is \u201cvirtually nothing to show\u201d after the promise was made.<\/p>\n He bemoaned the \u201cslow pace\u201d of dredging.<\/p>\n He indicated that \u201cAFAG shall engage various stakeholders in the field to see how best we can use local knowledge to solve the mystery behind what is becoming an annual ritual\u201d.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By Magdalene Teiko Larnyoh\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pro-opposition pressure group, Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), wants government to reduce the cost being quoted for the dredging of the Odaw River and the construction of drains among others. The group warned they will be forced to demonstrate against the government if their demands are not met. General Secretary of AFAG, \u00a0Arnold Boateng, made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n