News:
July 27, 2011
The Member of Parliament for Mampong in the Ashanti Region, Francis Addai-Nimoh has said that government’s inability to appoint substantive supervisors at the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) has accounted for the lack of monitoring and supervision of contractors working on various roads across the country.
According to Mr. Addai Nimoh, the refusal of the Ministry of Roads and Highways to confirm personnel in acting positions at the Authority including that of the Chief Executive Officer is a major reason why various road projects in the country have been stalled.
Contributing to a panel discussion on the poor state of roads in Ghana on Dwaso Nsemon Adom FM, Mr. Addai Nimoh, who is an engineer and worked at the Ministry of Roads and Highways said if appropriate measures are not taken to change the situation, the Ghana Highway Authority will collapse because the needed structures to make the institution effective are not in place.
The Ghana Highway Authority is an agency under the Ministry of Roads and Highways which has oversight responsibility of major road construction projects across the country.
To buttress his point, Mr. Addai Nimoh read a letter from the Senior Staff Association of the Authority to its Board of Directors in which they registered their displeasure with the non confirmation of senior personnel in acting positions.
The letter which was signed by the Association’s National Chairman, P.O.S Lanquaye and the National Chairman of the Workers Union, Henry Bah Anim said meetings between the Board of Directors and their members to discuss the regularization of the position of the Chief Executive Officer after the substantive one retired in 2009 have not been fruitful despite assurances from the Board that they were expediting action on the issue.
The workers say that their concerns have remained unresolved three months after the last meeting while the problems facing the Authority have worsened with the death of the Director for Road Maintenance who was also acting.
Currently, the positions of the Chief Executive for Maintenance (MTCE) and Deputy Chief Executive Administration have all been vacant for a long time while that of the Deputy Chief Executive for Development is technically vacant since the one in charge retired in June this year although there is someone in an acting position.
According to the leadership of the workers, the unfortunate situation is not enhancing productivity because it is provoking agitations which are a hindrance to their carrying out their duties effectively.
Again in the letter, the leaders claimed that information they are receiving indicates that the Board is having difficulty resolving their problems because of external manipulations and some parochial interest and warned that they would not tolerate any further delays in the resolution of their issues.
Mr. Addai Nimoh said the situation called for an immediate resolution to avert the collapse of the Ghana Highway Authority.
The Roads and Highways Minister, Joe Gidisu in response to the issues said the Ministry has already begun the process of rectifying all the anomalies at the Authority and that the workers concerns will be resolved very soon.
Source: myjoyonline.com