‘Expedite review of Public Procurement Law’

Players in the construction industry have called on the government to expedite the review of the Public Procurement Law, aimed at giving advantage to local businesses.

According to Mr Courage Dogbegah,  Chief Executive Officer of Berock Ventures Limited, civil engineering and general building contractors, the initiative was a laudable one. He has, therefore, urged the government to speed up the process to make it a reality.

At the launch of the 20th anniversary of the company in Accra, he said governments everywhere had the power of procurement which they used strategically to support and grow indigenous businesses.

“We are not asking to be pampered but to be given some support that foreign players tend to enjoy,” he said.

Mr Dogbegah also said the industry wanted the government to see procurement or its purchasing power as a catalyst to grow local companies by ensuring that local construction firms were paid promptly for work they had done, and promoting partnerships with other local firms for major infrastructural projects.

He stressed that it was sad that over 95 per cent of the major infrastructural projects in the area of airports, roads and energy, among others, were done without local partnership or involvement being made mandatory.

The Board Chairman of the company, Mr Rockson Dogbegah, stressed the need to support indigenous companies to give them an even playing field with their foreign counterparts.

He also called for an apex body to develop, regulate and grow the construction industry in the country.

Looking ahead, he said Berock wanted to establish its presence beyond Ghana.

Activities earmarked for the 20th anniversary celebration include the renovation of a headmaster’s bungalow at Keklebeshie in the Volta Region, seminars in various tertiary institutions, as well as increase in the intake of interns to help bridge the widening gap between academia and industry.

The company would also lead a national debate on the development of the construction industry in Ghana.

Berock Ventures Limited started its operations in 1993 and its celebration has the theme, “20 Years of Construction Excellence, Berock your dependable partner.”