The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has recommended a forensic audit of all oil-funded projects to assess the extent of abuse of funding projects with petroleum revenue.
A member of PIAC, the committee with oversight responsibility over the prudent management of petroleum revenues, Dr Steve Manteaw, in an interview said some of the misappropriation of oil money earmarked for projects were dire.
"We need to look at all projects funded with oil money since 2011 and where there have been clear cases of abuse, the law must take its course," he said.
It has emerged that some projects purported or reported to have been funded with oil revenue are either non-existent or incomplete.
A visit by the PIAC, the GIZ and the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) to some oil money projects in the Eastern Region revealed that a science resource centre at the Begoro Senior High School (SHS) in the Upper Manya Krobo District captured as rehabilitated with oil money had not been completed.
The Headmaster of the school, Mr Daniel Mensah, said the centre had been completely out of use since 2011 after the contractor removed windows, doors and cast first phase of floor terrazzo and abandoned the project.
"The school wasn't involved at any stage in awarding the contract. The absence of a science lab is making the teaching and learning of science difficult," he said.
The project
Officials at the district assembly also denied knowledge of the award of such a contract.
The contract sum was GH¢130,152.96 for completion in four months.
Petroleum revenue component in the amount was GH¢52,765.24.
It is ,however, unclear if the contractor was paid or not.
Challenges /Impact
The science resource centre served other SHS in the district.
The school has put few materials in one classroom for theory. Some prospective science students, upon seeing the situation either apply for transfer to other schools or change their courses.
The number of science students has dropped from about 70 to about 32 during admission.
A student, Bright Commey, appealed to the Member of Parliament for the area and the government to help restore the science resource centre to its past glory.
-We need to look at all projects funded with oil money since 2011 and where there have been clear cases of abuse, the law must take its course.
-The PIAC has an additional public oversight to the implementation of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) and to provide a platform for public debate on spending of oil money.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Delayed payments stall the timely completion of road projects
A road expert has attributed the challenges with the timely completion of road projects in the country to the delay in payment.
The Regional Maintenance Manager of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), Eastern Region, Mr Emmanuel Laryea Oddai, said contractors always had to wait for a long time before they were paid, and that had led to some of the road problems.
"Cost overruns run through road projects. If this is addressed, then the engineer can also be held accountable for whatever he is supervising," he said during a project site visit to the Anyinam-Kwabeng-Akropong road.
The visit was under the auspices of the GIZ, the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) and the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ).
Mr Laryea said the delay in payments resulted in the upward review of cost of road projects as a result of rising costs of materials.
"If contractors are paid early enough, it will help them go by their programmes and we can also hold them to task," he said.
A member of PIAC, Dr Steve Manteaw, said although the road fund was a dedicated source for maintenance of roads, it had not served its purpose.
"Unfortunately, the minister of Finance collects the money and doesn't pay into the fund, so it is always in arrears, causing delay," he stated.
The projects
The Anyinam-Kwabeng-Akropong is a 10-kilometre road maintenance project awarded in 2012 but actual work started in 2014.
Supervisors say it is about 75 per cent complete and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
It is a Government of Ghana (GoG)-funded project with an original contract sum of GH¢2,244,370 million and the total certified amount to date is GH¢2,216,757 million.
The team also inspected the partial reconstruction of the 23.3-kilometre Odumase-Oterkpolu road. The project was about 80 per cent complete. The original contract amount was GH¢44,005,504.33 but the total certified amount to date is GH¢32,002,436.43.
“Cost overruns run through road projects. If this is addressed, then the engineer can also be held accountable for whatever he is supervising.”
The Regional Maintenance Manager of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), Eastern Region, Mr Emmanuel Laryea Oddai, said contractors always had to wait for a long time before they were paid, and that had led to some of the road problems.
"Cost overruns run through road projects. If this is addressed, then the engineer can also be held accountable for whatever he is supervising," he said during a project site visit to the Anyinam-Kwabeng-Akropong road.
The visit was under the auspices of the GIZ, the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) and the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ).
Mr Laryea said the delay in payments resulted in the upward review of cost of road projects as a result of rising costs of materials.
"If contractors are paid early enough, it will help them go by their programmes and we can also hold them to task," he said.
A member of PIAC, Dr Steve Manteaw, said although the road fund was a dedicated source for maintenance of roads, it had not served its purpose.
"Unfortunately, the minister of Finance collects the money and doesn't pay into the fund, so it is always in arrears, causing delay," he stated.
The projects
The Anyinam-Kwabeng-Akropong is a 10-kilometre road maintenance project awarded in 2012 but actual work started in 2014.
Supervisors say it is about 75 per cent complete and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
It is a Government of Ghana (GoG)-funded project with an original contract sum of GH¢2,244,370 million and the total certified amount to date is GH¢2,216,757 million.
The team also inspected the partial reconstruction of the 23.3-kilometre Odumase-Oterkpolu road. The project was about 80 per cent complete. The original contract amount was GH¢44,005,504.33 but the total certified amount to date is GH¢32,002,436.43.
“Cost overruns run through road projects. If this is addressed, then the engineer can also be held accountable for whatever he is supervising.”
Thursday, October 05, 2017
$600m Needed annually to undertake more road projects
https://www.graphic.com.gh/business/business-news/600m-needed-annually-to-undertake-more-road-projects.html
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