In a startling revelation, the Ranking Member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, John Abdulai Jinapor, has disclosed that the contractor for the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam project, MS Power China International Group Limited, has abandoned the project and left Ghana.
Before their departure, the company reportedly sold the remaining construction materials at the site, including blocks and stone chippings.
“We visited the site for the contractor and the contractor, you can attest, the contractor has packed and left the site. Not only has he abandoned the site. Not only has he abandoned the project, the chippings that he brought there, and the few blocks that were molded to even construct the site, but our information is also that those blocks have been sold, and the chippings too have equally been sold, and so, the taxpayers’ money has gone down the drain. My checks in Accra indicate that the contractor has even left Ghana,” he stated.
Addressing the media on Saturday, Jinapor expressed deep concern over the project’s abrupt halt, which was initially hailed as a significant development initiative aimed at boosting agriculture and power supply in the Upper East Region. He said the promise to construct the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam on November 29, 2019, was “an election gimmick to hoodwink the people, and right after the election, nothing is happening. This can best be described as a scam.”
Mr. Jinapor was speaking to the media when he led the minority side of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy to visit the project site at Kurugu in the North East Region. During the visit, only a pile of stone chippings and a few blocks were left at the site, with no tangible work done when the team visited the site over the weekend.
The Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam, which was expected to serve as a flood control mechanism, provide irrigation for over 25,000 hectares of farmland, and generate 60 MW of hydroelectric power, was seen as a transformative project for the region. However, the construction of the dam is in limbo after almost 5 years since the sod was cut. During a Public Accounts Committee sitting, it was revealed that an amount of $12 million was paid to the contractor, MS Power China International Group Limited, despite no visible progress on the ground. The Bank of Ghana, in response, admitted that the money was paid to the contractor, but under the instruction of the government.
Mr. Jinapor said the minority would take immediate action to address the situation and ensure accountability. “We will activate all the parliamentary processes to retrieve that amount of money that has been dashed to the contractor. Somebody must be held liable, somebody must be held accountable. 200 million cedis is not small money, $12 million can do a lot in this country. So, we will use every legitimate means to retrieve the money and punish those who have caused this financial crime and financial loss to the state,” Jinapor asserted.
Among the delegation include the MP for Bongo, Edward Bawa, Deputy National Communication Officer of the NDC, Malik Basintale, Upper East Regional Communication Officer of the NDC, Jonathan Abdallah Salifu, among others.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Kurugu|
