News:
June 8, 2018
Minority in Parliament has expressed shock at the decision by President Akufo-Addo to cut sod for the phase two of the Kumasi International Airport despite the fact that it was done by the Mahama administration.
According to the Minority, sod cutting for the second time for the same project amounts to waste of time and resources of the state.
In a statement, the Ranking member of Road and Transport, Kwame Agbodza said, “The Minority Caucus in Parliament has received with shock and bewilderment, news that President Akuffo- Addo will cut sod for work on the second phase of the Kumasi International Airport.
President Nana Addo on Wednesday cut sod at the premises of the Airport in Kumasi for the second phase of the enhancement exercise currently ongoing at the facility. The contract is still being executed by the same company that was awarded by the previous administration.“The purported sod cutting by the President would amount to a needless waste of time and scarce national resources in view of the fact that his predecessor, President John Dramani Mahama, performed the same ceremony on 5th December, 2016.
President Mahama performed the ceremony after securing parliamentary approval of a loan of 65,037,500 Euros from Banco Santander S.A. and export credit support from the United Kingdom Export Finance Agency, for onward lending in the sum of 7,762,500 Euros, to the Ghana Airports Company Limited, in November, 2016, he said.
He further explained: “We note that the same contractor with whom an agreement was entered in 2016 to execute the project has been retained for the project. We find it inexplicable therefore, that the President would waste scarce national resources only to perform a ceremony that has already been undertaken by his processor.
This sort of conduct smacks of desperation and are symptomatic of a government that has nothing to show for the billions of Ghana Cedis it has borrowed since January, 2017.”
According to him, the Minority caucus in Parliament deplores this level of populism and shallow opportunism through which the Akuffo- Addo government seeks to take undue credit for the work of others.
“We wish to also put on record that similar work was done by the NDC government under President Mahama in respect of the Tamale Airport and we expect that the Akuffo-Addo government will go through the motions and formalities to ensure the commencement of work on the phase two of that project”.
About $150 million was approved by Parliament in November, 2016 for the execution of the second phase for the project following the completion of the first which saw the extension of the runway.
By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com