Former Ranking Member of Parliament’s Works and Housing Committee and MP for Ho West, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, has disclosed that the government is yet to pay the necessary compensations for the smooth implementation of the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project (GARID).
Speaking to Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show on Citi FM on Monday, May 20, the Ho West lawmaker said the government failed to pay the $16 million in compensation out of the original $200 million loan facility meant for the project’s implementation.
Mr. Bedzrah told Mr. Avle that this was the reason the Minority Caucus staged a walkout in Parliament on Friday, May 17, 2024, when an additional $150 million loan facility was approved.
“Government is looking for an additional $150 million for three basic things. Out of the $150 million approved, $65 million was meant to replace the amount spent on COVID-19, $68 million for cost overruns, and $16 million was meant for compensation.”
“Government was supposed to pay compensation and that compensation was not paid, so the government cannot even have the right of way for the contractors to work.”
Mr. Bedzrah added that Minority members on the Works and Housing Committee toured the project areas and that their checks revealed that work has stalled in most of the areas visited.
“The Minority side from the Works and Housing Committee went to four various sites: the Alogboshie site, two other sites, and the almighty Odaw site, where the contractor has set up a site camp. I was surprised when we went to the dredging site. We were told that no dredging has happened there for the past two years. What even amazes me is that when you get to the Korle site, the whole place has been silted and overgrown with weeds, and if there is any heavy rain in Accra, the whole place will flood again.”
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