Ghanaians Tired Of NDC Attempt To Reverse Progress -Jake

The Campaign Manager of the New Patriotic Party (NPP),Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey,has stated that Ghanaians are sick and tired of attempts by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to belittle their intelligence and rewind the clock of progress and development in freedom.

This was contained in a statement issued in Accra by Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey in reaction to remarks made by Mr E. T. Mensah, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo Prampram, at an NDC rally at New Ningo to the effect that Mr Obestebi-Lamptey had disorganised Accra.

According to the statement, not only did Mr Mensah accuse Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey of “disorganising' the capital city, since he took up the portfolio of Minister of Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City, but also he later alleged that the NPP government had abandoned the Ningo Bridge and the road connecting New Ningo and Old Ningo.

It noted that it was clear that Mr Mensah made his statement within an obvious NDC campaign policy of mendacity and mischief, otherwise “it is amazing that with his experience as a former AMA chief executive and parliamentarian, he could display such ignorance in his comments on a city like Accra.

The statement noted that if Mr Mensah had sought to understand what the modernisation concept was about,he would have realised that the creation of that portfolio was not meant to duplicate the statutory responsibility of the local government authorities within the catchment area for modernisation.

It said the concept was to complement the efforts being made to bring sanity to the chaos Mr Mensah and his people created during the 20 years of mismanagement and misrule, and also to focus on planning the future development of the capital. “Sanitising a chaotic and filthy city like what NDC bequeathed to the NPP is no mean task,” it said.

It explained that within the past two years, the ministry had been able to conceptualise the vision of a modern capital city,commencement of the revitalisation of Old Accra with the renovation of the Ga Mashie area,including the restoration of open spaces and landmarks such as the Bukom Square and the Old Accra Harbour, as well as the taking of steps to re-organise the Town and Country Planning Department.

The statement reminded Mr Mensah that it was during his tenure as the chief executive of AMA that sachets and other forms of plastic containers were introduced into the everyday life of Accra,without any plan to manage the consequent waste,and that it was during the P(NDC) period that the massive youth drift into Accra began, which had resulted in the current population explosion, with the concomitant waste management problem.

It said the mess and sanitation nightmare at Sodom and Gomorrah and its like commenced and blossomed under the P(NDC), adding that “the alarming phenomenon of streetism, as well as 'kayayei' in Accra, was the direct result of the P(NDC's) bad policies which virtually killed life in the rural areas and led to the youth fleeing to places like Accra in search of non-existent jobs and opportunities.

On the Ningo Bridge,the statement said the clear lie in what Mr Mensah said was underpinned by his claim that the bridge was awarded on contract at the sum of ¢600 million which had now ballooned to ¢16 billion.It said the contract for the construction of the bridge was awarded to Messrs Frandesco (Wa) Ltd on October 21, 1994 at a cost of ¢13,077,634,309, but work commenced on January 31, 1995.

The statement said typical of the NDC, it allowed the contractor to delay work for four more years and well into the NPP administration until the contract was terminated on May 27, 2003 on account of shoddy work.

It said following the response to invitations for bids for the completion of the project, the contract for the completion of the work had been awarded to Messrs Daewoo Engineering and Construction Limited at a cost of ¢8,118,363,072, adding that the contract for work to begin was signed on June 4, 2004 and it was to be completed in 12 months.

“So it is clear that the NDC government awarded the contract as far back as 1994 at the sum of over 13 billion and not the ¢600 million claimed by Mr Mensah, and the NPP government has awarded it for completion at the sum of more than ¢8 billion and not the ¢16 billion as he claimed,” it said.

The statement said it was the NDC government that abandoned it on account of non completion of the bridge, adding, “However, a ¢2.3 billion contract has been signed with Jimmaco Construction for work on the two kilometre road which started on August 6, 2004 to be completed on February 5, 2005”.

“It is evident that after woefully failing to deliver as a government when it had the mandate and the opportunity, for almost 20 years, the P(NDC) seems to now expect the NPP government to wave a magic wand to repair the extensive damage and decay it had caused to the country and go on to deliver on its own promises all within four years,” the statement added.