Local Contractors Accused Of Shoddy Work

Local Building Contractors, who bid for contracts from the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), have been accused of slapdash work, comparing their work with that of their foreign counterparts.

Whilst some of the local contractors intentionally failed to complete their assigned projects within the stipulated time, others failed to execute the projects though government had paid them.

Mr. Daniel Boateng Amankwa, CWSA Zonal Hydrogeologist in charge of Central, which includes the Ashanti, Western and Brong Ahafo Regions, lamented that for sometime now the lackadaisical attitude towards work displayed by local contractors was impeding the progress of work of CWSA.

He wondered aloud why foreign contractors who were working with the same logistics and funds just like their local counterparts were making headway in their projects whilst the local contractors were fumbling.

He therefore entreated local contractors to change for the better to ensure that they were continually awarded contracts, cautioning that henceforth any contractor who would be caught executing shoddy work would have his contract terminated outright.

Mr. Amankwa gave the warning when Board of Directors of CWSA recently paid a two-day field trip to Kumasi and its surroundings to ascertain the operations of CWSA in the Ashanti Region.

Significantly, CWSA, which gets funding from government and sponsorships from some well-endowed countries, is responsible for the provision of potable water to rural communities in the country.

Also included in their essential duties is to dig hand wells, drill boreholes, construct VIP latrines for households and institutions such as schools and also build KVIP toilets for rural communities.

Mr. Amankwa, decrying the shoddy works produced by most local contractors, noted that but for the unprofessional attitudes to work by such contractors, the CWSA would have been making major headway in the rural communities in the country.

He reiterated his outfit's resolve to terminate the contract of any contractor who would be found culpable of producing shoddy work, elucidating that the new rule would not discriminate against any contractor.

“All we are asking from the contractors, both local and foreign, is to respect the terms of their contracts and produce proficient job within the stipulated time allocated for them,” he pointed out.

From Fred J.A. Ibrahim Jnr., Kumasi