The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, has urged contractors in the region to execute projects awarded to them on schedule and according to specifications. He warned them that such projects would be taken away from them and re-awarded if they delayed or abandoned them. Alhaji Idris made the call in Tamale at a meeting with contractors in the region. The meeting was to offer the Minister the opportunity to interact with the contractors and find out their problems and how best the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) could cooperate with them to enhance development of the region. The Regional Minister reminded the contractors of the Procurement Act and said standards required by the World Bank for award of contracts were now very competitive and as such, they needed to upgrade themselves and meet all the requirements before they could bid for contracts. He observed that most of the contractors in the region did not have offices while some would not even bother to renew their registration adding: "This is a bad practice that does not put them in good standing". He advised them to work as a team and appealed to the more endowed ones among them to assist their less fortunate colleagues by way of machinery to enable them to undertake projects for the mutual good of the contractors association. He announced that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was drawing up a strategic plan for the construction of roads to open up the region, particularly the eastern corridor. Alhaji Idris said under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), about 350 kilometres of feeder road would be constructed in some districts in the region, which were beneficiaries of the MCA. He observed that contractors in the Northern Sector of the country faced a lot of problems especially, with the payment of their claims, and therefore appealed to the sector Ministry to give priority to contractors from the sector when paying out claims. The Northern Regional Chairman of the Contractors’ Association, Alhaji Sherif Mahama, said the water situation in the region was a major problem facing them making it difficult for them to complete projects on schedule. He mentioned cement shortage as another problem the contractors faced and pleaded with the Regional Coordinating Council to arrange for them to temporarily import cement from Togo to enable them to undertake their projects. The Regional Chairman also complained that at times, timing and award of contracts were not conducive to those of them in the Northern Region since contracts given in the rainy season could hardly be completed on schedule. Emmanuel Pireku the Regional Director of the Ghana Highway Authority, urged the contractors to prepare their certificates of payment monthly to ensure prompt payment. He also impressed upon them the need to audit their accounts and annual renew of their documents. Source: ghanadistricts