Govt to re-award Pwalugu dam contract — Minister of Agric

The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has indicated that the government will cancel the Pwalugu Dam contract due to the failure of the contractor to complete the project as scheduled.

He said the current administration would, however, mobilise funding for the project and re-award the contract to help irrigate farms and boost agricultural production.

The minister was speaking in an interview session with the media at the end of his three-day tour to departments and agencies under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in Accra last Wednesday.

Contract

Mr Opoku indicated that the project was awarded on contract for completion within four to five years at a cost of around $993 million.

This, according to him, was to solve three critical challenges, including providing irrigation facilities for farming, providing hydropower to augment generate power for Ghanaians and helping address the challenges from the Bagri Dam spillage.

He added that the government was to pay $56 million under the contract to enable the contractor to mobilise to the site. However, after spending almost $12 million dollars, no substantial work was done, with the contract currently in limbo.

“What we will do is to terminate that contract immediately. We'll terminate the Pwalugu contract and look for a contractor, look for funding, and then immediately ensure the execution of the project,” he said.

Judgement debt

On the concern of judgement debt, Mr Opoku indicated that the issue would be referred to the Attorney-General to fulfil all legal obligations related to the contract before it is terminated.

“Before we terminate, you know it will not be done here. We'll refer to the Attorney-General's Department for his advice before the contract is terminated. But we are prepared to make sure that the Pwalugu project is executed,” the minister stated.

Assurance

The MP for Asonafo South assured Ghanaians that the government would work assiduously to ensure that it soon commenced and completed the Pwalugu dam as a legacy project of President John Dramani Mahama.

He indicated that the project would be part of the government’s grand vision to address the irrigation challenges in the northern sector to beef up the cultivation of crops.  

He added an all-year-round farming was essential to realise the government’s vision of making agriculture the driving force of the country’s economic transformation, especially with the implementation of the 24-hour Economy policy.

The minister also indicated that the government would make available some procured tractors and cereal harvesters to farmers to help in the cultivation of crops across the country. 

Task force and tour

Mr Opoku indicated that MoFA would launch a task force to monitor and stop activities and encroachments on lands belonging to state agencies and departments under the ministry.

He said this decision was critical as there had been widespread activities of encroachment on lands belonging to the agencies.

“I will launch the task force which will have the mandate to move to all the departments, produce for our consideration documents and records on the people behind the encroachment, how they managed to acquire these lands and who authorised them,” he stated.

The Minister of Agriculture concluded a three-day tour of some agencies and departments under the MoFA for familiarisation and also to express his readiness to work with them to achieve the government’s vision.

The minister on the final day toured the Agriculture Engineering Institute, the Amrahia Farms and the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA).