Some contractors in the country have appealed to government to pay all arrears owed them before the stipulated two year payment plan announced by the government.
According to them, the time period will rather have a negative impact on their operations as they struggle to stay in operations.
“Even though the announcement gives us an opportunity to plan, waiting for two years is a long period that will affect our capacity,” Chairman of the Construction sector of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Rockson Kwesi Dogbegah said.
He argued that the time period will adversely affect the ability of contractors to gather funds to undertake other projects.
“It will affect our cash flow and that is where the headache will be. We appreciate the challenges confronting government in inheriting the debt and having to look for money to pay but it is equally difficult for contractors,” he stressed.
The contractors earlier called for a legislation that will compel government to set aside a fund to pay those who have executed their contract.
They also impressed on government to pay all accumulated interests on all outstanding debts owed them.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta in his mid-year budget review disclosed that government will complete payments of all arrears owed contractors by 2019 after undertaking the necessary validation.
But Mr. Dogbegah insisted that government must do well to pay all the arrears soon.
“At this stage we can only plead with government to do whatever it can to manage the debt in a manner that will guarantee early payment,” he noted.
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By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana