The Association of Building & Civil Engineering Contractors of Ghana (ABCECG) has expressed dissatisfaction with government's inability to pay monies due its members on time.
The association noted that government's inability to honour contract certificates of building contractors had increased the indebtedness of the latter to uncontrollable levels since they secure loans for the projects.
It attributed the delay to the inadequate budgetary allocation for projects which has resulted in most contractors abandoning their projects mid-stream.
The association appealed to the government to, as a matter of urgency, consider the method of payment of interim certificate which was used in the 1970s during which time half of the contractual sum was given to the contractor after workers and machines moved to site.
Kwame Afreh, chairman of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the ABCECG, disclosed these at the 4 th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association in Takoradi at the weekend.
The well-attended AGM was on the theme 'Towards Improvement of the Construction Industry – The Need for A Regulatory Body'.
He noted that that the absence of well-defined standards for the registration of contractors had led to the proliferation of incompetent contractors in the construction industry.
Mr. Afreh stressed the need for radical transformation of the industry in order to meet the demands of infrastructural development.
He also called for an independent and well resourced regulatory body to improve and sanitize the construction sector.
In an address read on his behalf, Western Regional Minister, Paul Evans Aidoo, indicated that over 90 per cent of the country's housing needs were provided by the informal sector. To ensure cost effectiveness he said there was no room to entertain shoddy work in the industry.
Currently, only contractors certified by the Ministry of Water Resources, Works & Housing were eligible for contracts from both state institutions and private estate developers.
He however indicated that once a firm decides to undertake a project, it must issue a bid bond, performance guarantees and advance payment guarantees which were major impediment for local firms.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi
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