President Akufo-Addo
320 affordable houses for police at 43 million dollars. Two bedrooms and three bedrooms. On the average, each house is 130 thousand dollars.
This is a project by government, who is getting lands for free, tax exemptions on imported items.
Meanwhile, the private estate developer will buy a land, spend money litigating to keep it, pay huge import duties on items, build same 2 or 3 bedroom and sell for 50 and 70 thousand dollars.
In fact, as I speak, Koans Estate is building a 100 two room affordable houses for GRA workers at 12 thousand dollars each. Unlike government who got the land for free, Koans paid for it.
If the private estate developer can buy land, pay import duties and still build at less than half the amount government is building it, then is it not rather better for government to buy from these estate developers instead building same at over bloated amounts.
We were here in this country when the erstwhile government was accused of stealing through over pricing of project, some of us decided not to vote for them based on these.
But Nana’s government is doing worse. 6 unit classroom block was between two and three hundred thousand cedis under Mahama and we called him a thief.
The projection for same under free shs is 600 thousand cedis and we are quiet.
Nana is failing in protecting the public purse in the area of procurement and I find it unfortunate because it is one area I expected them to shame the previous government.
I expected them to build at at least half the Mahama amount because were told that the projects were tripled under the create loot and share scheme.
Right under our nose, same is happening and we are okay.
What was really the need for appointing a Procurement Minister. We just increased the size of government and increased the problems in that very sector at the same time.
Nana and his men have not been honest in this area, whatever they accused the previous administration of in the area of procurement, they are doing worse.
The silence of the media on these matters is shocking if not scandalous.
Isaac Kyei Andoh