-Despite Plans To Convert Them To “KVIPs”
Roads and Highways Minister, Kwasi Amoako Atta, was a confused mess in Parliament on Wednesday after he presented a contract for the construction of a bridge in Adowso to the House for consideration and approval.
The contract document, titled: “Design-Build Contract For Design and Construction of Adowso Bridge” had many question marks dangling over it including the jaw-dropping price tag of over EUR3.1million.
However, what left the Minister looking awkward was an item in the contract designated as the construction of a toll plaza. Minority MPs who were incensed by the item pointed out to Mr. Kwasi Amoako Atta that he is asking parliament to approve a contract to build a toll plaza, shortly after the government had scrapped operations of toll booths across the country.
The same Roads Minister has also recently revealed intentions to convert the toll booths into public toilets or what is called KVIPs in local parlance.
For the Minority MPs, what made the irony mindboggling was a price tag of EUR532, 793 for the toll plaza.
But the confused minister could only fume when the contradiction was pointed out to him, saying the Minority MPs were ignorant about what they were talking about and that they had allowed themselves to be misled by a newspaper article.
“He is very ignorant about what he is talking about Mr. Speaker,” the Minister said about the complaint of one Minority MP.
Then he added in rather incoherent English, “… he is quoting from Graphic or Daily reportage. It was an interview, it is just a small portion that has been turned out! You haven’t had the opportunity to listen to the whole interview…I was speaking to the press and they wanted to know the future of all the toll booths!”
However, the document that the Minority was reading from was right before Parliament and had been supplied by the same Roads Minister’s Ministry.
WhatsUp News has seen a copy of the document. In it, the Employer is named as the Ministry of Roads and Highways, while the contractor is BNIP-JANSON -Adowso Consortium of Ringwade 71, 3439 LM Nieugein, The Netherlands.
Items in the contract include the Installation of crash barriers and hand railing, Road markings and street lights.