The Public Interest & Accountability Committee (PIAC) says it has discovered that some projects touted by government in the northern part of the country do not exist.
This came to light when PIAC and a team of journalists from the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) recently visited six selected ABFA-funded projects to monitor their existence, progress of work and state of completion.
“Of the six projects visited, three were found to be non-existent,” PIAC stated.
These included the rehabilitation of irrigation dams at Douri in the Jirapa District and Nakori in the Wa municipality, and the construction of a six-unit classroom block at Farikiya Islamic Institute in the Tamale metropolis.
Douri
PIAC’s interaction with some residents of the community revealed that no work has taken place at the site since 1998 when a Japanese grant was released for the construction of the existing irrigation project.
Opinion leaders and local authorities in the community also said they were unaware of the release of funds for the rehabilitation of the dam, even though GH¢52,950 of ABFA was earmarked for the project in 2014.
They also said the community was not involved in the project selection and/or implementation.
This made tracking and demand for accountability difficult.
Owing to this, PIAC has called on the Ministries of Finance and Water Resources, Works & Housing to provide further information on the project in order to determine what the funds have been used for.
Nakori
Information gathered at the project site indicated that the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) and community leaders were not aware of such a project and the allocation made from petroleum revenues.
Also, it discovered that the rehabilitation of the dam was being undertaken by Alhaji Adamu, a contractor but since 2006, only a bridge had been constructed over the dam and two holes which had been dug were yet to have pipes fixed to convey water through canals for irrigation.
Additionally, the dam, when completed, would be of immense benefit to the community but a paltry sum of GH¢15,970.00 from the 2014 ABFA was allocated to the project, while also the team was unable to tell what the GH¢15,970.00 was used for.
“PIAC would want to know what had happened to the GH¢15,970.00 allocated for this project, as there was no sign of work done recently at the site.
The Committee is calling on the Ministries of Finance and Water resources, Works & Housing to provide further information on the project in order to determine what the funds have been used for.”
Farikiya Islamic Institute
The Committee, on its fact-finding mission to the Institute, found that the project, with an allocation of GH¢30,276.70 from the 2015 ABFA, could not be traced in the school.
Furthermore, authorities at the school had no knowledge of an allocation of oil revenue for the construction of a six-unit classroom block for the school.
According to them, the most recent project undertaken at the school was a Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) project which was completed in 2014.
“Having been unable to identify this project, PIAC would like to call on the Ministries of Finance and Education to provide further details on this project, including the date of award of contract, the contractor(s) for the project, other source (s) of funding for this project and other relevant information to enable PIAC and the citizenry trace the whereabouts of the project or the allocated funds,” it emphasized.
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