Ibrahim Mahama returns govt’s equipment
The Chief Executive Officer of Engineers and Planners Company Limited, Mr Ibrahim Mahama, has returned 32 units of various state equipment which were given to him through the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for an emergency exercise to clear the Odaw drain of silt.
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They comprise 20 tipper trucks, four bulldozers, three excavators, three wheel loaders and two motor graders.
Stickers bearing the name of the company which were posted on the vehicles for identification and easy access to the dredging site have also been removed.
Speaking to journalists during an inspection tour of the Odaw drain in Accra last Saturday, Mr Mahama said the vehicles were parked at the Multi-Purpose Industrial Park in Tema.
Dredging of the river
After the June 3, 2015 flood and fire disaster that claimed 159 lives, Mr Mahama, a contractor by profession and a brother of President John Dramani Mahama decided to dredge the drain to allow for the free flow of water at no cost.
His efforts were, however, criticised by some politicians who claimed that he had been contracted to do the job because of his relation to the President, while others were not happy that he had been provided state equipment to execute a project that had been awarded to him.
Mr Mahama refuted the allegations and explained that his company was rather providing the services for free.
Award a contract now
He indicated that he had decided to discontinue the project, after four months of work, to allow him to continue with other personal projects that needed his immediate attention.
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He, therefore, called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, contract a company to continue with the dredging of the drain.
Mr Mahama stated that he would no longer offer his services, as there were other contractors who were equally up to the task.
He, however, expressed his willingness to support any contractor who would be given the job.
"I have spent day and night for the past three months trying to clear the drain. I have done the preliminary work to pave the way for any contractor who comes to clear the drain and continue the work,” he said.
Work done
He said his company had completed about 40 per cent of the dredging work, which included the removal of heavy waste products such as car engines, tyres, car body parts, among others, from the drain.
Going forward, he said, there was the need to put a dredger in the drain to dam the water, clear silt and suck the water from beneath the drain.
"But behind the Vodafone building is where the challenge will be. But we have done part of it and so it will be much easier for any contractor, except that he would have to demolish many buildings to be able to get in there," he said.
What is left
He noted that to completely clear the drain, some buildings would have to be demolished in future.
He explained that some sections must be piped all the way into the sea to clear the drain completely.
Mr Mahama further proposed that the government increases surveillance in the area to stop people from dumping refuse into the drain.