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The Ministry of Roads and Highway wants Ghanaians to ignore claims by the Minority in Parliament that the Ministry failed to follow due process in the award of the Accra – Tema Motorway expansion contract.
The Minority had accused the Roads Minister, Kwesi Amoako-Atta, of flouting the constitutional provision which requires international business and economic transactions to be ratified by Parliament by sidestepping the House in the contract award under the cloak of approval from the Public Procurement Authority.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, August 11, 2021, Ranking Member on Parliament’s Road and Transport Committee, Governs Kwame Agbodza indicated that the contract as it stands is illegal and not binding on Ghana.
The Adaklu MP thus demanded the abrogation of the contract between the government of Ghana and Mota Engil.
He also argued that Ghanaian contractors should be given the project to handle since they have the capacity to execute the project.
Responding to the issues raised by the Minority on Eyewitness News, the Public Relations Officer of the Roads Ministry, Nasir Ahmad Yartey said the government has not yet signed any contract to that effect.
“We are not going to commence any project for now. When we are ready with the financial contract, it will first go through Parliament for approval. The Ministry is a very responsible one and will do everything according to the law,” he assured,
“The agreements are in two parts, the commercial and the financial. The financial agreement will have to go through Parliament. Without the financial agreement, there’ll be no money to commence the project. The commercial agreement is what the Ministry entered into in December last year. It is after we have got a financier for the project and entered into a financial agreement that the agreement will be taken to Parliament for Parliament to scrutinize and approve of it before the project can commence,” he further explained.
He said the project is expected to commence in December this year.
It thus requested all stakeholders to support the project that is expected to benefit the entire country.
Meanwhile, the Association of Road Contractors has welcomed calls for the contract to be given to local contractors.
Similar concerns were raised about the $570 million Accra-Tema Motorway expansion contract in January 2021.
The Ministry of Roads and Highways at the time said the concerns raised by the Minority caucus do not “represent the accurate status of the contract”.
Source: Citinewsroom
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