23 October 2009
The Nadowli District Assembly has initiated an interactive forum with stakeholders in the construction industry and other development partners aimed to address the challenges confronting the development of the district.
The forum, which was the brain child of the District Chief Executive, Mr.
Abu Kansangbata was to create a platform for contractors, consultants, development partners, and traditional rulers to discuss development issues, and look at the challenges that were impacting negatively on the achievement of quality delivery of development projects, and find alternative ways of improving the process.
Addressing the contractors, Mr. Kansangbata said he was aware of the assembly's indebtedness to some of them, to the tune of about 210,000 Ghana Cedis.
He said the leadership of the assembly appreciated the contractors' contributions and sacrifices towards the promotion of development in the district, despite the assembly's s indebtedness to them and called for more collaborative efforts to enhance the development agenda.
Mr. Kansangbata attributed the assembly's indebtedness to the contractors, consultants, and other development partners, to poor planning and budgeting as well as irregular release of funds among others things.
"Happily, my team and myself have identified the core problem and adequate measures have been taken to address the situation and to prevent future occurrences," he said.
Mr. Kansangbata assured the contractors that projects that were awarded without budgetary allocation had been catered for in the current budget, saying: "We will therefore be in a position very soon to pay you when our share of the District Assemblies Common Fund is released".
Mr. Kansangbata however warned that his administration would not condone or connive with any contractor and consultant to inflate figures of contract sums for their advantage and "I will never sacrifice quality work for monetary gains".
He advised the contractors and consultants to do away with political, ethnic and religious affiliations, and come together as a family and work hard to improve development in the district.
He advised contractors to keep visitors and instruction books at their workplaces to help track the number of times the consultants visit the site, while they also made efforts to involve traditional rulers and community members in the implementation of projects.
Mr. Kansangbata urged them to register their businesses and pay their taxes regularly and they should position themselves in readiness to take advantage of the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) to improve their lots.
Mr Callistus Sunyeri Haruna, Presiding Member of the Nadowli District Assembly, said the assembly would operate an open door policy that would help promote the development of the communities within the district.
Mr. Haruna pleaded with contractors and consultants that the assembly owed to exercise patience and continue to work on the projects they were executing in the district until funds were made available to the assembly to pay them.
GNA
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