BAD CONTRACTORS KILLING US

THE decision by the Ministry of Transportation to sanction engineers of the various departments under the ministry who endorse the certificates of contractors who undertake shoddy jobs must be a bold one, although it has come a bit late in the day. But, as it is said, the decision is better late than never.
It is the expectation of taxpayers, particularly road users, that Dr Richard Anane, the sector Minister, will be able to muster the courage and deal with this canker that has become a big drain on the national economy.
Oftentimes, our political leaders are able to identify the bane of our underdevelopment but they lack the will power to deal with the rot in the system. Consequently, such directives end up being mere rhetoric lacking in substance to address the development challenges confronting the country.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration has made infrastructure development one of the drivers of its development objectives. For this reason, a lot of taxpayers’ money, with assistance from donors, is being channelled into the road sector.
Through this effort, all major roads leading to the capital city are being rehabilitated, while roads in the countryside are also receiving attention, to make the movement of goods and services to the marketing centres more convenient.
But the drawback to these positive developments is the habit of some road contractors to engage in shoddy work. The evidence of these shoddy works done by some unscrupulous contractors is common in all parts of the country.
Bitumen surfaces start developing potholes sometimes within one month or following any rainfall after the projects have been certified by our engineers.
Those who use such roads wonder about the competencies of our engineers in certifying the works as having met engineering standards.
One other reason this canker is eating deep into the fabric of our road contractors is the lack of supervision by the supervising agencies or connivance of engineers with road contractors to make profit at the expense of the state for personal gain.
But, as the Minister of Transportation takes steps to introduce sanity into the activities of road contractors, it will be worthwhile to look at the claim by some contractors that kickbacks demanded by technocrats and, in some cases, politicians, reduce their ability to work to specifications and provide quality roads.
This is a major problem facing the award of contracts in the public service and the solution lies in concerted efforts by the government and anti-corruption agencies like the Public Procurement Authority to deal with all obstacles that inhibit the thorough execution of government contracts.
The DAILY GRAPHIC has no doubt about the capabilities of the Transportation Minister, but in a country where we are unable to walk the talk, the people will receive the directive with skepticism unless the axe begins to fall on incompetent road contractors and their collaborators at the Ghana Highway Authority, the Department of Urban Roads and the Feeder Roads Department.
Indeed, all Ghanaians share in the concern of the Transportation Minister that “the government cannot afford to waste the tax-payers’ money on unsatisfactory works of unpatriotic road contractors”.
Yet the ball is in the court of the minister and we expect him to act decisively to sanitise the road construction industry to make travelling by road a pleasurable endeavour and also halt the carnage on the roads caused by poor engineering works.
Dr Anane, we look up to you for the first axe to fall pretty soon to send a clear signal to all that a new dispensation has dawned and that the undesirable elements in the road sector will no longer have their way.