The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG); has officially launched a Project Management Manual for Electrical Projects (PMMEP) and a Code of Conduct for Third Party Contractors to guide the discharge of their functions.
The two documents were launched as part of the annual review meeting of the Network Project Directorate in the Western Region.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Mr. Robert Dwamena, praised the Network Projects Directorate for the initiative.
He noted that the launch of the Project Management Manual, inter alia, is to help ECG deliver ongoing and future planned projects to internationally accepted standards and ensure effective project delivery.
“Presently, there are documents or manuals in fragmented forms in the care of different departments or regions upon which project teams depend for implementing projects. This has led to a situation where most ongoing projects are not being implemented in accordance with best Project Management Practices. The development of the Project Management Manual for Electrical Projects (PMMEP), will therefore fill the huge vacuum created by the lack of harmonized approved procedures for corporate use, ensure harmonization of all existing procedures as well as the amalgamation of existing documents/manuals into a single document”, Mr. Dwamena noted.
This manual will serve as a “Code of Practice” or a “Handbook” for all Sub transmission or Distribution Network Project Management Teams in ECG.
It will essentially serve as a one stop consulting document or a handbook for all staff assigned the responsibility of managing electrical projects.
Launching the manual, the Director of Network Projects, Ing. Samuel Boakye-Appiah noted that, the primary purpose of developing the PMMEP is to entrench best project management practices in ECG, and to ensure that electrical projects are executed within scope, cost, schedule and quality standards to meet the growing demand for power.
He urged all staff to commit themselves to study and make use of the manual.
Code of Conduct for Third Party Contractors
The Code of Conduct for Third Party Contractors also sets out standards to guide the behaviour, attitude and conduct of Third Party Contractors and their staff in the execution of their obligations enshrined in the contracts entered in with ECG.
Ing. Boakye-Appiah revealed that, the document has been developed to promote professionalism amongst all third party contractors in the provision of services to ECG, in a bid to provide reliable and adequate power supply to customers, improve customer service delivery which will eventually improve the image of the company.
“Third Party Contractors are enjoined to conform to the Code of Conduct and promote its observance. Similarly, all Project Engineers and Supervisors are encouraged to access the Code of Conduct and report any contractor whose behaviour may be in breach of the code”, he admonished.
Over the years, ECG has executed various electrical infrastructural projects to address various challenges in the distribution network.
Some major projects executed in the 1980s and 1990s are the Volta Region Electrification Project, the Fifth Power Project, National Electrification Project, all of which were implemented using procedures and guidelines provided by the respective funding agencies.
Over the last five years, ECG has been executing projects in the various directorates as part of efforts to implement various initiatives identified under the Strategic Plan currently under implementation.
The intensity of project implementation and project delivery is expected to increase in future due to the need to implement projects to be funded by the World Bank, African Development Bank, Millennium Challenge Corporation, private investors and ECG.
Currently, there are thirty major projects with about 180 sub-projects underway.
It has therefore become necessary for ECG to be more efficient in the delivery of such projects.
This will result in faster completion of projects, a lower value of work in progress, lower project cost and shorter lead times from network problem identification to commission of solution.
To achieve all these objectives, Management of ECG has implemented the following key decisions since the year 2015:
•Instituted a Project Managers’ Forum to serve as a platform for Project Teams to share knowledge and experience in Project Management.
•Sponsored 200 personnel to undertake training in Project Management in a bid to build staff capacity and entrench best project management practices within the company. Currently, all staff of Network Project Directorate have benefited from this training programme.
•So far, twenty-five members of staff have been certified as Professional Project Managers (PMPs).
•Approved a Project Management Manual for Electrical Projects (PMMEP) and a Code of Conduct for Third Party Contractors
Also present at the launch were – the Director of Operations, Ing. Tetteh Okyne (who represented the Managing Director), Ing. Joseph Amakye, Director of the Ashanti Strategic Business Unit and Ing. Jacqueline Ofori-Atta, the General Manager for Western Region.
By: citifmonline.com/Ghana
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