The Bono East Regional Minister, Francis Owusu Antwi, has described the pace of work on the Kwame Danso 24-hour economy market project as “highly unacceptable," giving the contractor one month to improve performance or risk losing the contract.

Mr Owusu Antwi issued the ultimatum during an inspection of the project in Kwame Danso in the Sene West District on September 22, where he expressed disappointment over the slow progress of work.

Addressing the contractor, Mr Owusu Antwi said, "You are not performing, and I’m disappointed. You are not trying to help the community, and you are not trying to help the government. This is one of our flagship programmes.”

The Minister said the contractor was expected to have achieved about 20 percent progress by the time of the inspection but had completed only five percent, resulting in a 15-percentage-point shortfall.

He said concerns about the delay had already been raised with the contractor, who had assured the authorities that efforts would be made to close the gap.

Mr Owusu Antwi said the contractor had now been given one month to make up for the shortfall, warning that failure to improve would attract sanctions.

“However, we’ve given them one month to make sure they compensate for the percentage gap of 15%. When they fail, we’ll take action against them,” he said.

He further disclosed that he had directed the project consultant to formally caution the contractor over the delay.

“As I speak with you, I directed the consultant to warn them with a letter and they’ve done that, of which we have a copy of that letter. When they continue to breach the arrangement, we are going to take sanctions against them,” he said.

Despite the delays, the Sene West District Chief Executive, Khaari Fuseini, said the project remains important to the local economy and is expected to benefit residents in Kwame Danso and surrounding communities once completed.

He described the location of the market as strategic, given the communities around the Kwame Danso township.

“Look at the communities that we have around Kwame Danso Township. This is a strategic location and we believe that it will benefit the people here,” he said.

According to Mr Fuseini, trading activities already take place at the location throughout the day, with residents and traders anticipating the completion of the new facility.

“People buy and sell in this market all day round, and a lot of people are expecting that it will be completed so that we can reap the benefits of it,” he said.

The regional minister's directive means the contractor must demonstrate improved progress within the one-month period or face action over the continued delay.