Ranking Member on the Works and Housing Committee of Parliament, Vincent Oppong says the Finance Minister must be blamed for the less than 20 percent of funds released to the Works and Housing Ministry out of its GHS500 million budget.
He has therefore asked the minister to release the funds to the Works and Housing Ministry to enable it go about its activities particularly, controlling flooding.
He said this when he addressed the media in Accra on Friday.
“All that we are saying is the Minister of Finance that is supposed to release funding to the Ministry of Works and Housing should do so. So if the Ministry is not performing, and we are experiencing the flooding situation the way it is now, then all the blame should be put on the Minister of Finance”.
“We are urging the government to live up to its responsibility because when taxes are collected, it is the government that is in power that controls the budget and prioritises where money should go,” he stated.
The Minority in Parliament has said that out of the GHS500 million budgeted for the Ministry of Works and Housing for the year 2022, less than 20 percent of the funds were released by the Finance Ministry.
It said the inadequate funding of the Works and Housing Ministry was hindering it from taking major actions in dealing with flooding in the country.
This comes after six deaths were recorded due to flooding within the week in Kumasi and Accra.