MINISTER CALLS FOR CLASSIFICATION OF ROAD CONTRACTORS (PAGE 15, JAN 16, 2010)

THE Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Robert Joseph Mettle-Nunoo, has called for the review of conditions for classification of road contracts of government projects.
He said the current classification had contributed to the selection of road contractors who had failed to deliver to the expectation of the sector.
Speaking at the Fourth Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Construction and Building Materials Workers Union of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) in Accra yesterday, Mr Mettle-Nunoo said the classification centred more on the equipment of a company instead of its effectiveness and the total human resource.
Mr Mettle-Nunoo appealed to the union members to collaborate with other stakeholders in the road sector to bring about efficiency in the dispensation of their work.
He said most of the projects that were being undertaken in the country were at a slow pace and urged the contractors to collectively speed them up.
He appealed to the directors of the GHA to ensure that Internal Payment Certificates (IPC) were justified before they signed them.
Mr Mettle-Nunoo deplored the tendency where some of them demanded money before endorsing IPCs and advised those involved in such practices to put a stop to it.
He advised the union to institute an award scheme to reward hardworking members as a source of motivation at the end of every year.
Mr Mettle-Nunoo hinted that a labour-based training programme would be organised for unionised staff in all the regions to help them upgrade their skills.
He appealed to the members to report encroachment on land earmarked for roads as early warning signal systems to avoid compensation being paid to such encroachers by the government when it wanted to construct or expand on such roads.
Mr Mettle-Nunoo called on the union to devise plans which were attainable at the end of the year for government support.
The acting Chief Executive of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), Mr Kwadjo Nyapong Aboagye, called on the government to help in the prompt payment of monies meant for the transfer of personnel of the authority to ease their burden when they report to their new post.
The General Secretary of the Construction and Building Materials Workers Union, Mr Pius Quainoo, appealed to the government to allow the union of the building and construction workers of the GHA to fully participate in the negotiations on the end-of-service benefits for their workers.
He said those of them in the building and construction sector of the GHA had been denied all social regulations and labour rights.
He deplored the undue interference from public authorities in the daily administration of the GHA in all the regions and added that it was a violation of trade union rights of the workers and amounted to undermining the labour contracts existing between the authority and its staff.
Mr Quainoo appealed to the government to appoint a substantive Board Chairman for the GHA to enable the authority to carry out its functions effectively.