Bad performing road contractors would no longer be given contracts, Mr. Gilbert Afugu Roy Ayariga, National Programme Coordinator, Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has warned.
He said a contractor, who failed to execute a job after taking the initial funds for mobilization, was a nation-wrecker and economic saboteur who did not want progress in the socio-economic well-being of the people.
Mr. Ayariga gave the warning at a meeting during an inspection of the completed spot improvement Tainso–Kogua virgin feeder road.
The contract, awarded in November 2012 was executed in four months instead of the eight months schedule by Shamma Rohi Limited, a Sunyani–based road construction firm at an estimated cost of GHc 313,000.00 with funding by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The NRGP under the auspices of MOFA is being financed by AfDB and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). It is intended to open up inaccessible farming communities through the construction of virgin roads to facilitate the carting of farm produce to marketing centres.
The programme has 53 projects being implemented with 10 in the Brong-Ahafo Region, 20 in the Northern Region with the rest in the Upper East and Upper West regions. Those in Brong-Ahafo are located in five districts, comprising Tain -2, Kintampo Municipal - 2, Kintampo South-1, Pru-3 and Sene -2.
Mr. Ayariga observed that some contractors after taking the amount for mobilization abandoned the project and invested the money in other personal businesses, contending that was a form of criminality because it deprived the populace of a benefit and provision to enhance their lives by the state.
He stressed MOFA was compiling a list of "best performing contractors" and to recommend them to the funding institutions of the programme to be given future contracts, declaring "bad performing contractors would be blacklisted".
The NRGP Coordinator praised Mr. Andrews Oduro Oppong, the Managing Director of Shamma Rohi Limited for the timely execution of the job, promising that best performing contractors would be motivated even more in the interest of the people.
Mr. Ayariga stated, "The era that contractors thought their contracts would not be terminated is over", disclosing that currently six contracts had been terminated under the programme.
"The programme does not delay in honouring certificates of completed jobs by contractors, so there is no justification why a contractor must not deliver on time," he indicated and emphasized that MOFA would not waste time on bad performing contractors.
Dr. Cyril Tadius Quist, Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of MoFA, noted that the farming industry was not just about weeding but the availability and improvement of other facilities like the feeder roads, which were major components to ensure successful production of food.
He said the road would boost the success of the government’s block farming programme being implemented in the area because the farmers would be able to convey their produce to the marketing centres for realistic prices.
Mr. Samuel Jones Tawiah, Acting District Chief Executive for Tain in a welcome address appealed for the extension of the road to Amangoase and Mfojo, two other adjoining farming communities for all the farmers to get value for their farm produce.
Maize, cassava and cocoyam are the three main food crops produced by farmers in the three communities.