Kwasi Amoako-Attah, Roads and Highways Minister
• A 14-member Road Fund Board is expected to be inaugurated this week
• The Board will ensure the swift payment of contractors in the country
• The move followed several agitations by road contractors over delay in payment by government
Government is set to inaugurate a 14-member Road Fund Board expected to ensure the routine and periodic maintenance of the country’s road network is properly financed, Asaase Radio has reported.
According to the report, the statutory fund will also cater for road safety activities and other selected projects.
The board would be constituted by Tuesday, August 3, 2021, and would be chaired by the Member of Parliament for Effutu Constituency, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin.
Road Contractors in the country had earlier expressed dissatisfaction about the long delay of payments for contracts executed for the government of Ghana.
The Vice President Ghana Chamber of Contractors, Adam Bonaa, had in an earlier interview with GhanaWeb noted the delay was largely due to government’s delay in constituting public sector boards across the various ministries.
“Road contractors have not been paid from sometime last year up to this year. This year, new ministers have been appointed, we have a Roads Minister but unfortunately, payment cannot be made until the Road Fund board has been constituted and as we speak that has not been constituted. The same applies to several of the infrastructure ministries like the Housing Ministry, Education and GetFund.”
This agitation was followed by calls of the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Contractors, Emmanuel Cherry, on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to, as a matter of urgency, to establish a Road Fund Board to ensure the payment of contractors.
The upcoming inauguration of the Road Fund Board is expected to heave a sigh of relief for contractors as the body seeks to facilitate the approval of next round payments made to contractors for projects executed.