Member of Parliament (MP) for Akwapem South, Hon. O. B. Amoah has questioned the immediate past National Democratic Congress (NDC) government the where about of US$663,229,496 they promised Ghanaians of raising to finance the construction of the Accra Sewer and Storm Drainage Alleviation works, also known as ‘Conti Project’.
The project according to the MP was aimed at improving storm water flow, drainage and sewer systems in the Accra Metropolitan Area with a primary focus on works within the designated flood zones in the Odaw Basin and the Korle Lagoon to alleviate the frequent flooding and improve sanitary conditions.
Hon. Amoah questioned the minority when contributing to the debate on the 2017 Budget on the floor of Parliament in Accra.
Documents available show that, the ‘Conti Project’ was to tackle priority drains needing construction and upgrade drains in areas such as, Odaw Upstream, Mataheko, South Kaneshie, South Awudome, Onyasia Tributaries, Nima Main and Nima Tributaries, Sukura/Mampon Drain and the Industrial area.
But the Akwapem South law maker, explained that even though Parliament on October 25, 2012, approved all the agreements covering the project, till date Ghanaians have no knowledge as to whether the said money was released or not.
“It is only under the NDC that they promised to solve the flood situation and said that they have gone for US$663million and went ahead to take the President to the site to cut the sod for the commencement of the project. Mr. Speaker, as we speak now, not a Cent has come to this country”, he opined.
The contract sum was in two folds; a loan agreement of US$538,299,497 between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the United States of America for the construction of the Accra Sanitary Sewer and Storm Water Drainage Alleviation Works project; and a loan agreement of US$125,000,000 between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and Standard Chartered Bank for the construction of the Accra Sewer and Storm Water Drainage Alleviation Works project.
It would be recalled that the then Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Alhaji Collins Dauda wrote to Parliament on July 22, 2015 in response to a request for further information about the said project by the MP for Akwapem South that while the loan was being processed, preliminary works commenced immediately after the signing of the contract along the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project (KLERP) to forestall the occurrence of flooding.
The work he added, was executed by Conti’s local partners with the government advancing some payments to the said local partners in June 2015.
He further told Parliament that the project had since 2015 been put on hold pending the completion of the loan processes which were still ongoing.
The Akwapem South law maker further explained that the failure on the part of the NDC to secure the loan for the Conti project among others made the umbrella family’s legacy under local government very abysmal.
“NDC bequeathed us with weak decentralization, poor waste management services, congested and dirty urban communities, poorly managed assemblies, poverty and its associated deaths”, he noted.
He said the NPP under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will do far better than the NDC did, stressing that the 2017 Budget will vindicate him.
“We are promising that there should be a national urban policy and under this we are saying that with the geographic info systems, we will develop a better addressing system more especially, we are addressing fiscal discipline, and we are promising fiscal transparency, fiscal accountability and priority at the local level”.
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