The Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa South in the Builsa District of the Upper East Region, Mr. Alhassan Azong has underscored the need for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to let competence to be the hallmark in the awarding of contracts. The MP made the call when he addressed a press conference at Fumbisi at the weekend on the state of roads in the constituency, which he alleged was the result of the shoddy work executed by contractors. The Kanjarga community had been cut off from Fumbisi, which has the largest market in the area due to the deplorable state of the road, he said. Mr. Azong who is also the Minister in charge of Public Sector Reforms expressed regret that the shoddy works done by some contractors was as a result of the MMDCEs and other contract awarding institutions who do not follow the basic principles of competency and capability. He said in the award of contracts, proper assessment needed to be carried out to establish the worthiness of contractors to ensure that they had the necessary equipment required and competent workers to execute projects to perfection. Referring to some parts of the feeder roads in his constituency, which had been cut off from the District Capital, Sandema, the MP said the road was awarded last year as part of the Community Based Rural Development Project sponsored by the World Bank for areas that were affected by the 2007 floods that hit the Region. Mr. Azong indicated that the state of roads in the area had rendered many members of his constituency immobile, while some of them had to travel long routes, which tended to worsen their economic burden. He said commuters had to travel 27 kilometres through Gbedema to get to Fumbisi instead of using the 7.5 kilometres road from the Kanjarga community. Mr. Azong appealed to professionals including contractors who are given jobs to do not to view the projects as “Government Work” and therefore execute the projects shoddily. Earlier on, the MP conducted newsmen around some parts of his constituency that had been affected by the recent floods in the region. The heavy rains collapsed houses, submerged farms and washed away bridges. He assured the affected persons especially those who had been rendered homeless that they would be offered assistance. Source: GNA