SANCTION POOR PERFORMING MEMBERS (PAGE 21)

THE Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, has called on the Association of Road Contractors (ASROC) to institute a mechanism to sanction contractors whose performance falls short of expectation.
He explained that apart from spending huge sums of its limited resources on roads, the government also depended on development partners for grants and loans in the road sector.
Mr Gidisu who addressed a workshop of road contractors to discuss delays in payments for contract, said the government would also examine its institutional constraints and the performance of people placed in responsible positions to forestall delays in payments.
He explained that delays in the payments for contracts were mainly due to the excess contracts awarded to contractors which fell outside the budgetary allocations.
He said if not addressed, these human and institutional inadequacies could paralyse the construction industry and called for the raising of the consciousness of stakeholders at all levels of the construction industry, including policy makers.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, whose speech was read on his behalf, said the growth in the transport sector had contributed to the improvement of the economy as well as living conditions.
He said governments could not therefore run the country without looking at road infrastructure, which is the major driver of national development.
Dr Duffuor urged the contractors to reciprocate the gesture of the government’s huge investment in the construction industry by performing creditably to contribute their quota to the growth of the economy.
Mr J. Twumasi-Mensa, national Chairman of ASROC, said local contractors waited between six and 19 months for their certificates to undergo 37 processes before payments were effected.
He noted that the reduction in 37 procedures for processing certificates would definitely lead to prompt payments of contractors.
Mr Twumasi was of the view that the workshop would lead to the adoption of measures which would create favourable conditions for contractors to pursue their role to help the nation’s efforts to improve the road sector.