Agona Nkwanta: Mr Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, the Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, has expressed displeasure with the delay of some ongoing infrastructural projects in the Ahanta West and Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipalities of the Western Region.
The Minister, the time frame given to the contractors for those projects was almost due, yet much work had not been done in both Municipalities.
He expressed the sentiments when he paid a working visit to inspect progress of works on projects under the Ghana Secondary Cities Support Programme in the two Municipalities.
Mr Korsah toured two road construction sites, and 50 lockable stores with ancillary facilities at the Agona Nkwanta market centre in the Ahanta West Municipality.
At the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipality, he toured various roads and drainage construction sites to see how far contractors had gone with those works.
Mr Korsah expressed concern over the fact that one contractor was overseeing all the projects within t
he Ahanta West Municipality, hence the delays in the progress of the work.
He said his sector would no longer entertain any form of variation, therefore contractors overseeing government projects must work assiduously to complete them within the agreed timelines.
‘If the contractors fail to complete the work by September 15 as agreed upon, the contract will be taken from them and awarded to a more competent construction company,’ Mr Korsah said.
The Minister said he hoped the projects would be completed on schedule to serve their intended purposes of boosting the socio-economic development of the region.
Mr John Agyare, the Ahanta West Municipal Chief Executive, responding to the concerns of the Minister, said the delays were due to the contractor’s inability to commence work on schedule.
‘The contractor did not start work exactly on the date he was supposed to and that caused the delay. My Assembly was the first to cut sod on the Ghana Secondary City Project, yet it is far behind in terms of completion,
‘ he said.
He urged the contractor to speed up work on the projects to improve the area’s socio-economic development.
Mr Agyare explained that his Assembly was on course in terms of developmental projects such as schools, hospitals, and markets among others, adding that the completion of the roads was what they looked forward to.
Source: Ghana News Agency