“All of us are speculating. Yes, he [the contractor] has not written to us. Has he written to the government? He hasn’t written to government. I have tried reaching out to the Regional Engineer and he was also speculating.”
Peter Ayinbisa Ayamga, the Upper East Regional Director for Communication for the New Patriotic Party in the Upper East Region this in response to the many questions from residents in the Upper East Region wondering why the contractor working on the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Polmakom road had packed his equipment and left site.
Queiroz Galvao MI, the Brazilian contractor working on the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakom Road in the Upper East Region, has packed out of the site.
When A1 Radio’s News team visited portions of the road where the contractor worked, Friday, February 10, 2023, it was clear that the contractor had packed all the firm’s equipment and left the site.
Though the Upper East Regional Road and Highways Directorate is yet to comment on the matter, a deep-throat source who spoke to Moses Apiah explained that the contractor’s abrupt leave could be attributed to the inability of the government to disburse monies for work to continue.
When Mr. Ayinbisa spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show, he berated the contractor for failing to communicate officially to the government, his reasons for departure.
Mr. Ayinbisa explained that it could not have been related to issues around finance because the contractor’s last payment from the government was in December 2022. While additional payment certificates had been raised by the contractor, Mr. Ayinbisa explained that the contractor should have realised that government payments delay.
The only information available to Mr. Ayinbisa about the state of the road is speculation from the Upper East Regional Engineer at the Ghana Highways Authority.
“It is speculation he is getting from the grapevine that it may be about funds because of the debt restructuring service but that is not what we do in public service. If there is any reason for you to pack out of site, the important thing and the right things for you to do is to write to the employer.”
“I don’t know the whereabouts of the contractor. I would not sit here and say that the contractor has left this country … I don’t sit, eat and dine with the contractor. I monitor work per what the regional adminsitration does,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Upper East Regional NDC has taken the government to task over the road project.
“We believe that if President Akufo-Addo cuts down the needless expenditure through reduction of the size of his government, suspension of the needless National Cathedral project, and eschew the unbridled profligacy, it will make enough savings to complete essential projects such as the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Polimakom road, the Navrongo-Naaga road, the Chuchuliga-Sandema-Fumbisi-Wiesi road, Missiga-Kulungungu road project among others.”
The National Democratic Congress, led by its Regional Communication Officer, Jonathan Abdallah Salifu, shared these sentiments when it held the maiden edition of its “Upper East Region Must Know’ series today, February 21, 2023 at the party’s Regional Office in Zuarungu.
The government led by Akufo-Addo should bear full responsibility for the current economic condition the nation is in, according to Mr. Abdallah Salifu. The Bolga-Bawku road has been impacted by the government’s unnecessary borrowing and pursuit of superfluous expenditure.
Read full the full statement here: UPPER EAST MUST KNOW SERIES PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE REGIONAL COMMUNICATION OFFICER OF NDC, COMRADE ABDALLAH JONATHAN SALIFU, ON ABADONMENT OF THE BOLGATANGA-BAWKUPULIMAKOM ROAD PROJECT.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
