The contractor and creditor responsible for constructing 18-unit classroom blocks funded by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) project, Amo Enterprise, has issued a stern warning.
They are prepared to re-lock the classrooms of TI Ahmadiya School in Tema as a form of protest against GETFund’s neglect of their financial grievances.
The company claims that GETFund has consistently ignored their efforts to recover an outstanding amount of GH¢500,000.00 owed to them for over three years, dating back to the completion of the project.
The project engineer, Mba Aduku Abarighi, explained that they resorted to locking the classrooms on April 30, 2024, to draw attention to what they perceive as GETFund‘s lack of action.
However, they were dismayed to find that the classrooms had been reopened and students were using them without consulting them, amidst GETFund’s silence.
Amo Enterprise has now threatened to re-lock the classrooms and prevent students from accessing them again.
Earlier on April 30, 2024, the contractor had locked the TI Ahmadiyya School due to non-payment by the government.
Despite the school reopening on the same day, Amo Enterprise asserts that the government has failed to settle its debts, despite numerous appeals.
The contractor is burdened by loans taken from several banks to finance the project, leading to financial strain and asset jeopardy.
The total cost of the project was one million Ghana cedis, with an initial payment of half made by the government.
A delay in government review of project pricing caused a two-year delay in the initial payment.
Furthermore, upon inquiry, the company’s director was initially informed that their certificate was missing from the GETFund office, only to be informed later that it had been found after threats of locking the facility.
Amo Enterprise suspects deliberate obstruction from officials, resulting in non-payment.
The project, which commenced in 2019 and concluded in October 2021, has faced funding issues despite evident government spending elsewhere.