Mrs. Agnes Chigabatia, Upper East Regional Deputy Minister, on Thursday urged contractors in the region to undertake their work with selfless commitment so as to build good and lasting infrastructure in the region. She asked them to regard themselves as important partners in development and put up their best instead of thinking only of the profit they could make. Mrs. Chigabatia said this when she met the regional branch of the Association of Road Contractors (ASROC) during their General Meeting in Bolgatanga. She said they should eschew partisan politics and that it was not true that contracts were being awarded to favourites. The contractors appealed to the authorities in charge of contracts in the region to award contracts below 50 million Ghana Cedis to members of ASROC who qualify to do the work. They said most of their members were experienced and well equipped to undertake moderate contracts. “As members of the association, they would be more responsible and live up to expectation since they can easily be identified and brought to book in case of shoddy work”, they said. They complained that lately contracts that could easily be done by local contractors were given to foreign companies. Mr. Dawuda Hakim, Regional Chairman of ASROC, said roads in Bolgatanga do not befit the status of a capital and need to be rehabilitated and that local contractors are up to the task and ready to work. He called on the authorities to re-examine the present tendering procedure. Mr. Hakim advised the contractors to desist from under pricing their bids as that contributes to poor quality of work. Mr. Francis Hammond, Regional Engineer, Department of Roads and Highways said local contractors were not deliberately denied contracts but that some of them did not present all the requirements needed to qualify them for the contracts. Source: GNA