Despite the public uproar against the sole sourcing or unsolicited proposal policy of the government, where major projects are handed over to selected companies without going through the tender process, the practice still persists.
Major projects such as the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange, which cost 74.88 million Euros and being financed by the Brazilian government, Kasoa Interchange and surrounding roads, which is also costing Ghanaians $172 million and a host of others were all awarded on contract to Brazilian contractors without going through the open tender process.
Intelligence information that have been picked up by Spear of the Nation, The Chronicle, indicate that the much publicized expansion of the Accra-Tema Motorway from the current four lanes into six lanes is also going to suffer the same fate – sole sourcing.
As at now, the cost of the project is not known to the public apart from the $1.5 billion, which the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority claims would be the cost of the entire project that consists of the Tema Harbour expansion, the motorway itself and some selected roads to and from the harbor.
The Chronicle can report on authority that the project would eventually be handed over to a construction firm with strong links to a top official in government (details later), hence the craze to award the contract without going through the open tender process to select a competitive bidder.
The Chronicle investigations establish that as a result of the heavy traffic on the Motorway, which also serves as an international road linking Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast, the government decided to expand the road from the current four lanes to six, under Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement.
The Accra-Cape Coast-Takoradi road would also be turned into four lanes, but under a different contract from that of the Tema Motorway to ensure smooth evacuation of goods among the West African nations.
The successful contractor who will win the bid to execute the project from his own resources will then toll the road (Tema Motorway) for a period of thirty years to recoup the investment, after which the government would take over the road.
Under the proposed project, two interchanges would be constructed at the Tema end of the Motorway and around the Abattoir. The current Tetteh Quarshie interchange would also be modified to absorb the expected large volume of traffic that will flow from the Motorway and the Motorway Extension (George Walker Bush Highway).
The World Bank subsequently made funds available for the government to appoint a consultant to carry out feasibility studies on the project to determine the scope, real cost of the project, provide solution for the current transport problem on the corridor and also identify the risk inherent in the whole project.
The Chronicle understands that though a contract has been prepared and handed over to the Ministry of Roads and Highways for an appointment of the consultant, the said contract has still not been signed, because the government wants to hand over the contract to its preferred contractor as unsolicited proposal.
The consultant, if appointed, is expected to come out with solution to all the above mentioned works, but knowing very well that if the contract for the appointment of the consultant is signed, the project would have to go through open tender process to select a competitive bidder, officials at the Ministry of Roads and Highways are dragging their feet.
Sources at the Ministry of Finance told The Chronicle that, the World Bank had already written to the Ministry of Roads and Highways enquiring why the process for the execution of the feasibility studies had stalled since funds allocated for the exercise had still not been utilized but no satisfactory answer was given.
Though the cost, design and scope of work, which would have all come out of the feasibility studies, are still not known, a mammoth programme is being drawn up by the Ministry of Roads and Highways for President Mahama to cut the sod for the start of the project.
The Chronicle sources at the Ghana Institute of Engineers expressed worry over the development and that this is the first time that a major project like the Motorway expansion is being executed without any feasibility studies from an appointed consultant.
According to the source, the project is a major national asset and that some of them would not rest on their oars until the proper procedure which would give Ghanaians value for money has been done. All efforts to contact the Minister of Roads and Highways proved futile. Whilst one of his cell phone lines was ringing without response, the other one was also persistently off. More anon
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