Priority will be given to foreign engineers on key government projects because of the inability of local engineers execute projects to the required qualitative standards, the Minister of Works and Housing, Samuel Atta-Akyea has said.<\/p>\n
The Minister had some harsh words for local engineers as he intimated that they were preoccupied with making money, as opposed to ensuring lasting projects.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”JGIgZBr6ufbaeRgftF56awk3dvXMEfOW”]On the other hand, he noted that foreign contractors were preferred \u201cbecause they have distinguished themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Atta-Akyea made these remarks at the Engineering Council as part of a one day working tour, where he acknowledged the need for local content and Ghanaian involvement in key projects.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026after all, you go and bring engineers from Israel to do a major project here and you are enriching the Israelis,\u201d the Minister noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there is a problem,\u201d he added. \u201cIf you hire Ghanaian engineers, they wouldn\u2019t want to do the work right. They cut corners, they inflate figures.\u201d<\/p>\n
“For the engineer, who is outside, it is a legacy, so that your name is permanently written\u2026 but for the Ghanaian engineer, it\u2019s not like that. He is trying to look at situations to make good money and leaving us a shoddy job,\u201d the minister added.<\/p>\n
Mr.\u00a0Atta-Akyea also urged engineers to increase their capacity to generate income, explaining that “the reason why we are saying this is that the national kitty is challenged – one of the things economists wouldn’t want us to say, but that is the fact of the matter.”<\/p>\n
Complaints from locals<\/strong><\/p>\n The minister’s comments are unlikely to sit well with some local engineers and contractors who have previously expressed some discontent with the government’s keenness to award contracts to foreign companies or expatriates<\/p>\n In March 2017, the umbrella body of local road contractors, the Progressive Road Contractors Association (PROCA), called on the government to stop the practice of awarding contracts to foreign companies.<\/p>\n It complained that they often lose out on these contracts, especially to Chinese firms.\u00a0According to the Association\u2019s Vice President, Hammond Larbie, this was pushing them out of business.<\/p>\n Mr. Larbie holds the view that the situation is stifling the capacities of local contractors from flourishing.<\/p>\n Local contractors have consistently complained about the lack of government financial commitment towards them with a notable instance seeing scores of contractors in January 2017, besiege the residence of then-President John Dramani Mahama, demanding payment for projects they executed for the government of Ghana.<\/p>\n According to the contractors, their services were employed for the construction of a number of Community Day Senior High Schools but they have not received payments which had been in arrears for the previous eight months.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Delali Adogla-Bessa\/Anass Seidu\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Priority will be given to foreign engineers on key government projects because of the inability of local engineers execute projects to the required qualitative standards, the Minister of Works and Housing, Samuel Atta-Akyea has said. The Minister had some harsh words for local engineers as he intimated that they were preoccupied with making money, as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[3,5608],"yoast_head":"\n