A director of Project 7 Limited, Simon Sowah, has rejected claims that his company abandoned the Upper West court complex project in Wa or misused project funds, insisting that work is ongoing and construction materials remain on site.

Responding to concerns raised during the recent visit by Parliament’s Judiciary Committee to the project site in Wa, Mr. Sowah said significant progress has been made since funds were released in December.

According to him, the company decided to replace some warped door frames with specialised heat-resistant doors after consultations with engineers from the Judicial Service.

“We didn’t install the frames because they were warping because of the heat. So, we agreed with the engineer for Judicial Service that we would bring in specialized doors that could withstand the temperature,” he explained.

“We’ve brought in the whole set of doors, which are packed down. All the doors are there, including the door handles and everything,” he added.

Mr. Sowah further stated that paving blocks and several other construction materials were already available on site.

He also disputed claims that the contractor could not be reached or had disappeared from the project.

“For the Parliament committee to come on camera and say the contractor has pocketed the money, and no one can be found, it’s very unfortunate,” he said.

The Project 7 Limited director blamed delays in payment for slowing progress on the project.

According to him, one payment certificate took seven months to be processed before funds were eventually released in December.

“If you look at December and now, there are changes. What you see now was not it,” he stated, adding that he could provide photographs of the site from December to show the level of progress made.

On accessibility concerns, Mr. Sowah said the ground floor of the facility would be made disability-friendly through the construction of ramps at both the front and back of the building.

He explained, however, that installing lifts or metal access structures for the upper floors would require separate structural plans because the 26-year-old building was not originally designed with such features.

According to him, attempting to add those structures immediately could further delay completion of the project.

Mr. Sowah also disclosed that additional works outside the original contract scope had been undertaken, including redesigns to improve fire safety and emergency access.

He said approval for those extra works is still pending at the Ministry of Finance.

“For us, the contractor, we’ve even done more for the Judicial Service than what we were originally contracted to put out to the public,” he said.

He further denied claims that he deliberately avoided visiting the site during the Judiciary Committee’s inspection, insisting that he had no prior information from the Judicial Service about the visit.

Mr. Sowah expressed confidence that, barring any unforeseen construction challenges, the project would be completed before the end of September this year.