ElvisAnokyenews Latest News Portal
The Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, Hon. Kojo Vincent Oppong Nkrumah, has clarified that non-payment of contractors in Ghana’s road sector is not a deliberate act by government, but rather a reflection of the country’s revenue performance and fiscal constraints.
He made this assertion in response to recent concerns that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has left behind a GH¢67 billion debt in the road sector. According to the former Information Minister, governments initiate road projects based on public demand and structured financing plans but are often constrained by underperforming revenue streams.
However, he explained that if these revenue sources do not deliver as expected, a financial gap emerges between completed work and the available funds to make payments.
“You would notice that government programs road construction, first of all, based on the demands of people. The demands of the people would trigger the government program to construct those roads.
“Then government will program different forms of financing for it, tax revenue, non-tax revenue, some loans. There are some that you could even decide to bring in a Public-Private Partnerships option.
“If some of those revenue options are not performing, you will find that by the time the contractor has done the work and issued the certificate, you have a debt and you don’t have any of these financing options to pay. I don’t think that it will be deliberate on any government’s part, even the NDC government’s part that they will give out road contracts and will not pay for it. No, it is a product of the functioning of your revenue handles.” He said.
The Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi further reminded the public of Ghana’s recent revenue shortfalls, which prompted the introduction of several new taxes, some of which he said were unpopular and politically costly. Nevertheless, he argued, these measures were necessary to meet the growing demand for infrastructure development.
He stated that this reality reinforces the importance of prudent financial planning and fiscal discipline, especially in sectors like road construction that have long-term national significance
“You will recall that revenue had its own challenges, for which reason we had to then introduce some taxes, some of which were very unpopular and got us into trouble at the end of the day, but the revenue and the performance generally vis-a-vis the scale of projects that the people of Ghana are asking for is part of the reason for which you find that intermittently you have gaps between the work that has been done and the money in the basket to pay for them.
“That’s why when we observed that it is possible that these monies were now going to be used for goods and service expenditure.” He said.
Source: Elvisanokyenews.net
