Source: Onuaonline.com
Godfred Alufar Bokpin, a professor of Finance and Economics at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), has chastised the government for misusing public funds on projects he terms questionable, singling out the 1V1D initiative.
According to him, the 1 Village 1 Dam (1V1D) initiative, like many, was inefficiently implemented creating a major financial setback for the country.
Speaking on the newly inaugurated Flower Pot Interchange, he noted that such projects do not offer real value for money considering the inflated amount used for putting them up.
The University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) Professor notes that although government has expensed huge sums of money to construct interchange and dams in certain parts of the country, with many of them becoming white elephants, many roads across the nation remain in poor condition.
“There are instances where we have spent taxpayers’ money to construct dams, supposedly, and you may find that potholes on our roads actually hold more water than the dams we’ve constructed,” he said on Accra-based Joy FM Wednesday, November 20, 2024.
Prof. Bokpin lamented further that the cost of infrastructure in Ghana compared to other countries makes the local ones inferior since the supposed amount spent could have built a higher standard edifice.
“If the Ghanaian government constructs an interchange and you look at the cost of constructing that interchange, comparing it maybe to world averages, you will see inefficiency. That’s where the problems arise for us, and that is what we have to address,” he added whilst discussing the high cost of living in the lead up to the December elections.
He made a case for the proper usage of available resources since they are scarce to come by.
He therefore wants “credible leadership” to address the issues of inefficient use of resources. He stressed the need for an improved investment climate for the smooth development of the country.
The Flower Pot Interchange project was awarded in 2016 for GH¢69.5 million by the previous NDC government. However, the project cost was revised to GH¢147 million in 2017 and has now neared GH¢1 billion under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.
The Director-General of the National Roads Authority (NRA), James Amoo-Gottfried, says the increase in the cost of constructing the interchange is due to an expanded scope of work.
“The initial scope was entirely different. It was to involve two overpasses: one over the Flower Pot roundabout and another across the motorway (Accra-Tema Motorway), totalling about 120 metres of bridge length. What we have now is about 1,022 metres of bridge length,” he explained.
He added, “So, the scope as originally planned and what we have now is entirely different.”
Mr Amu’s clarification comes in response to a call by the Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) for an explanation regarding the increase in construction cost.
Source: www.onuaonline.com
