By Kofi Akordor
I did not know how to react to the announcement that the government is to initiate a performance rating and ranking scheme for local contractors. Under the scheme, the performance of contractors will be assessed for each project executed to ensure that only qualified and competent contractors were awarded contracts.
This is a good idea which, some may say, is long overdue. But the truth is that this is not the first time something like this, or close to it, has been heard from men in authority.
Good infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, water and sanitation facilities, schools, hospitals, clinics and health centres, office and residential accommodation and other social amenities, constitutes a vital and major segment in any country’s development agenda. Incidentally, all these amenities share one thing in common — construction.
What that means is that any irregularities or inefficiencies in the construction sector deprive the nation of not only important infrastructure but also the loss of huge amounts of cash, both in local and foreign currency. Already available data, which one needs not be an expert or a government auditor to verify, indicate that construction and its staunch ally, procurement, constitute the widest conduits through which our country and many others on the continent lose money as a result of the endemic corrupt practices associated with the two sectors.
The construction sector, however, poses the biggest challenge in public sector expenditure and development and so any step which will bring sanity into the system, ensure efficiency and accountability will be a decision in the right direction and must be supported by all.
To begin with, most of our local construction firms lack the basic equipment, the capital base, the requisite human resource and the technical expertise for their businesses. For obvious reasons, all sorts of characters have found their way into the construction industry. The result is that the nation is saddled with shoddy work, uncompleted projects and huge debts that cannot be justified.
Governments, it must be admitted, have not helped the cause of contractors in the country. Oftentimes, contractors who commit bank loans to execute public projects are not paid for months and sometimes for years. The Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, at the launch of the new scheme, admitted that the government owed contractors huge sums of money which had piled up over the years and which it was doing everything to clear to put the contractors on a healthy path to revive the industry.
Another factor militating against the growth of the construction industry in the country is governments’ lack of faith and confidence in local contractors. Foreign contractors are always given preferential treatment when it comes to the award of major contracts, which sometimes involve the payment of foreign cash. The argument has always been that the local contractors lack the capital and equipment base to undertake major road and building contracts.
The question is: How do they elevate their status if they are not given the type of jobs that will improve their financial position? The suggestion that the local contractors should team up with foreign companies to bid for jobs with international funding support, to many well-meaning Ghanaians, is not tenable. This is only another excuse to frustrate local entrepreneurs and encourage capital flight from the country. There have been many instances when local consultants have done the spade work, but when it comes to the real job which will fetch them big cash, the clauses which will alienate them are introduced into the contract. Incidentally, these same local engineers do the real work for these expatriate companies which finally win the contracts and succeed in going away with millions of dollars, to the detriment of the development of local expertise.
I believe, and so do many other Ghanaians, that this country abounds in qualified people in the construction industry, from engineers to artisans, and this makes nonsense our incapability to manage big projects when given the opportunity.
The greatest threat to the construction industry is corruption at high places. We have made construction such a lucrative business that everybody, including those who do not know the difference between a ruler and a T-square, call himself or herself a contractor.
Even though there are firm guidelines for the award of contracts through the various tender boards, somehow, along the line, the board members are corrupted or issued with counter orders by powerful people in higher authority. The end result is that transparency, principles and quality are compromised and contracts go to the wrong people. These are people who are prepared to play ball or can throw about pieces of notes from certain personalities occupying high political positions.
Once that is done, the nation, which is the main client of these projects, should not expect anything close to a perfect job. They will either be abandoned midway, delayed or completed in a shoddy way. Once contractors are compelled by circumstances to part with fat envelopes before getting contracts or having their payment certificates approved and processed, the only logical things for them to do to recoup their ‘investments’ is to use inferior material, vary the drawings or engage less skilled staff. Whatever the case, the state is the loser.
It is good to set standards for contractors, which should be the normal thing, any way. It is also good, as an incentive, to reward those who have done good jobs, both in terms of time and quality. It will also satisfy a crucial national objective if local contractors and consultants are encouraged to win big international contracts, instead of always operating in the shadows of foreign companies and consultants.
The best thing the government can do for the construction industry and the general good of Ghana as a nation is to adhere strictly to the guidelines for the award of contracts for public projects. We should stop awarding contracts as reward for political foot soldiers and cronies. We should stop seeing the construction sector as a fertile ground for making illicit money at the expense of national development. It is only when we allow real competition to dominate the industry that we can expect the best out of our contractors.
.kofiakordor.blogspot.com
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