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The inflated cost of the Conti project is stampeding the progress of work. The Alliance for Accountable Governance, AFAG has said.
The pressure group in a statement is “worried about the slow pace of work with regards to the dredging of the Odaw River and its related development.”
The June 03 disaster as a result of a heavy downpour and fire which killed over 150 people last year should have been enough reason for work on the project to progress at a faster pace but this has not been the case, the group reckons.
“Indeed, the NDC government and its agencies assured Ghanaians of their readiness to dredge the Odaw River to avert any such disaster in the future. AFAG has since monitored this project. However, be it as it may, we stand here today, with virtually nothing to show.” The statement said.
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The five year project is to tackle the flooding problem in the capital city and other sanitation issues.However the minister of Finance Seth Tepker indicated last year that the money for the project which is being sourced from the Exim Bank is yet to his government’s account.
AFAG is also raising red flags about the cost of the project comparing it to a similar one in Nigeria which they claim cost 200 million dollars.
“We think this contract is too much of a rip-off unsustainable and needless. Our research shows that in Nigeria the dredging, upgrade and development of a highly silted 500km lower Niger River in Benue state was executed at a cost of 200 million USD.”
The group is demanding “an immediate review or repudiation” of the contract. In their estimation the Ghana Institute of Engineers should be engaged to resolve the flood problem in Accra.