The Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry says it is putting together a draft bill to bring into fruition the Construction Industries Development law to regulate the operations of road contractors in the country.
According to the Chamber, such a law will aid in sanitizing the industry and address concerns about substandard road construction.
In an interview with Citi News, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Emmanuel Cherry, said contract awarding agencies must conduct thorough due diligence before choosing a contractor for a project.
He said if this is not done, it will only worsen the delivery of shoddy works by some road contractors.
“We are putting together a draft bill to pass the Construction Industry Development Law so that we can regulate the practices and acts of contractors in the country. It is becoming too much of free entry and free exit which is not helping anybody. The awarding agencies must also take part in the blame for all these problems.”
The Roads and Highways Minister, Kwasi Amoako-Atta, recently warned contractors to desist from engaging in shoddy work or risk paying more for maintaining the roads.
According to him, the ministry has introduced a new road concept known as the Output and Performance-Based Contract (OPBRC) aimed at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of road asset management and maintenance.
“In traditional road construction and maintenance contracts, the contractor is not responsible for the design, but only execution of the works within the contract period and one year defects liability or maintenance period.
“This method of contracting puts the responsibility of the quality of the roads during the construction period under the contractor. The more durable the road is constructed, the less maintenance the contractor undertakes,’’ he added.