Some angry members of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry (GCCI) are demanding payment of their outstanding arrears from the government.
The aggrieved Contractors on Wednesday, July 10, 2019, stormed the premises of the Ministry of Roads and Highways and Transport, and descended heavily on the government for not paying them for contract works executed since 2016.
More than 2000 members clad in red bands said they would take legal action if the government continues to delay the payment of their monies.
According to the Contractors, its members are struggling to defray loans they took from banks to execute the projects as interest on such loans increase.
The association said the government owes its members GH¢1.9 billion, which they said is having an impact on their businesses.
Emmanuel Martey, Chairman of the Chamber, who represented the contactors at the meeting told journalists that, scheduled payment for the arrears had not been carried out by the government.
Abdul Rashid Issah, a member of the of the Contractors Association of Ghana, said the request for the payment of debts owed them was in no way politically motivated.
He said: “We’re here to drum home, and let Ghanaians and the Minister for Roads and Highways know that we’re suffering. We have paid engineers, workers and tradesmen as carpenters, masons, diggers, electricians; and for all the years, the government has not paid.
“The government comes out to announce that it has paid contractors, but how many of us are paid? Only about one or two per cent of the contractors are paid, and we the rest are described as NDC Contractors.
“We know the payment is a process, and we don’t understand why majority of us have not been paid for almost five years now. Do I have to wear party colours before I am paid what is due me? We are in no way begging for money, but asking the government to pay for contract works done.”
In December 2018, the government announced that it will release GH¢2 billion to settle some arrears owed them early next year but the contractors bemoaned the government’s failure to pay them debts owed them.
