Posted on:
www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw
Owusu
Wednesday, February
08, 2017
Details are emerging about the cost of the official residence of the
vice president, initiated by the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC)
administration, which has sparked outrage in the country.
The total cost of the building under construction where the former
Nigerian High Commission was located - behind the Police Headquarters at Broz
Tito Avenue on the Kumordzi Hospital Road, where the Food Research Institute
(FRI) of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSRI) is located in
Accra - is said to be almost $14 million ($13,968,252.66), although the NDC
government had created the impression that the project was going to cost the
taxpayer $5.9 million.
The project may not be finished anytime soon because the contract sum
has reportedly not been paid since 2014, stalling the project which originally
was scheduled to be completed in 18 months.
Cooked Figures
It has emerged that the opposition National Democratic Congress, which
commenced the controversial project when it was in office, has changed the
figure again, dropping it further to $3.5, but the evidence the party has
provided so far is exposing it to public opprobrium.
The NDC, through its General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia, is
flaunting a document that appears to suggest that the entire project cost was $3.5
million - even lower than what Clement Apaak, a former presidential staffer,
who is now an NDC MP for Builsa South, even put out.
He said the project cost $5.9 million when Vice President Dr.
Mahamudu Bawumia first made the startling revelation about the cost, saying
it’s staggering $13.9 million.
Bizarre Twist
Bizarrely, there appears not to be any monetary evaluation attached
to the document Asiedu Nketia claimed it is coming from the Architectural and
Engineering Services Limited (AESL), neither were the figures quoted in any
currency.
The vice president blew the cover recently, asking rhetorically
whether the doors of the building were going to be made of gold.
Similar
Documents
Currently, the NPP government’s figures being mentioned as the cost
of the entire project appears to tally with what Consar Limited, a building and
civil engineering contractors who are executing the contract, are providing.
They are all quoting $13.9 million as against the NDC’s $3.5 million;
but Consar’s quotation could even be higher if Value Added Tax is factored into
it.
Although the document presented by Consar to the current Chief of
Staff, Akosua Frema Opare-Osei, and the NDC General Secretary bears the stamps
and signatures of Managing Director of AESL, Louis Atongo, the two documents
have different costs for the same project.
Different Dates
Curiously, the Consar document suggests that the contract was
awarded in October 10, 2013, but the Asiedu Nketia document shows the same
contract may have been awarded three months earlier - 19 July, 2013.
DAILY
GUIDE learnt that Consar had submitted its document prepared on February
02, 2017 with the title, "Construction of Official residence for the Vice President
of Ghana at Cantonment in Accra," to the Chief of Staff to update the new
government on the progress of work.
"We refer to the above-named project which has been stalled for
almost two years due to lack of funds and wish to present you with a report on
the status of the project in terms of work done and delays in receiving
payments of the amount duly certified by the consultants.
"We hereby entreat your good offices to assist in facilitating
an early release of all payments as certified to enable us move back to site to
complete the project for the vice president,” Consar reportedly stated.
Shocking
Details
The AESL document, a copy of which NPP Communications Director, Nana
Akomea, displayed in the media at the weekend,
gives shocking details of the cost
of each component of the building being constructed.
The report titled, ‘Construction of Residence of the Vice President
Financial Statement as in February 2016,’ compares the contract sum and the
actual amount and all quoted in US Dollars.
For instance, the contract amount of the office of the second lady alone
is $590,357.54 and the actual cost is now $716,901.04, while demolition works
alone cost $100,000.
The contract amount for the basement stands at $213,695.72 and the
actual amount is $221,861.42; the ground floor is $2.342,325.57 (contract sum)
and $2.367,655.57 (actual amount) while the first floor of the building alone
cost $1.402,875.35 (contract amount) and $1.394,671.85 as the actual amount.
The second floor is costing $111,476.45 (contract amount) and
$167,282.45 (actual amount), lift shaft $101,154.70 (contract amount) and
$101,810.40 (actual amount) while staircase alone is costing $11,533.90
(contract amount) and $12,109.10 as the actual amount while the cost for fence
wall and gate houses was recorded as $461,032.75 as contract amount and
$471,528.27 as the actual amount.
Outhouse Cost
The outhouse cost $422.908.19 (contract amount) and $409,858.19
(actual amount), lounge $153,773.36 (contract amount) and $160,263.36 (actual
amount) while sundries totaled $60,500 (contract amount) and $53,698.77 as
actual amount.
In the document, the provisional sums were given as electrical
installations ($2.9 million) as contract amount and $2.4 million as actual
amount, while air conditioners and other mechanical installations amounted to
$1 million as contract amount and $991,896.68 as the actual amount.
Expensive
Swimming Pool
The swimming pool is costing $100,000 as contract sum and
$124,957.10 as the actual amount, with lift installations costing $200,000
(contract amount) and $194,600 as actual amount while soft furnishings has $440,000
for both contract and actual amounts.
For road and pavements the government is spending $330,000 for both
contract and actual amounts and for balustrades it is spending $55,000 while
horticulture works alone cost $110,000 (contract amount) and 137,082.00 as
actual sum.
The variations ordered as at the compilation of the report, cost
$778,001.25, external electrification works ($77,371.76), sculpture and emblems
($25,566.54), stone facing works ($55,300), hard wood panel doors ($88,157.36)
and other anticipated variations pegged at $400,000.
As it is, the total estimated cost of works stood at $13.015,126.88
(contract amount) and $13.968,252.66 as the actual amount.
The report said the amount certified for payment is $8.179,138.95
with $5.789,113.71 as the value for outstanding works.
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