Contractors in Upper East give Ghana government ultimatum

Contractors in the Upper East Region who built schools and urban roads for the government in the Region have given the government two weeks to pay them.

They said they would resort to other means including demonstrations and legal action to retrieve their monies if government refused to pay them.

A statement signed by Alhaji Abdul-Razark, the Spokesperson of the group and copied to the GNA at Bolgatanga, said the government, through the Ministry of Education, contracted Architectural Engineering Services Limited (AESL), which awarded the contract to them.

“What is even funny is that our colleagues who were given the same contracts through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) have been paid yet those of us who were awarded the contracts by the Ministry of Education through the AESL have not been paid,’’ the statement said.

It said most of the contractors took loans from the banks to pre-finance the projects since 2012 and were now being harassed by the banks to pay back the loans.

The statement said apart from the interest on the loans that had been increased, most of them were also finding it difficult to perform their social responsibilities such as the payment of their children’s school fees.

“We cannot continue to bear this suffering. Government through the Ministry of Finance must pay our monies or else we shall embark upon demonstrations to press home our demands,” it said.

The statement said the President, in his recent session address, spoke extensively about the under trees school projects that had been completed nationwide and yet the government had refused to pay them.

Source: GNA