By: Evans Attah Akangla| ignewss|Ho
Following an urgent meeting with Ho’s Municipal Chief Executive, Hon. Divine Bosson, concerned citizens are left wondering whether to proceed with their scheduled protest against the horrible condition of a portion of the Alale bridge.
With between fifty and two hundred members, the organization wrote to the Regional Police Command about their plans to stage a protest on Tuesday, October 24, 2023, between 8am and 11am in the morning.
They intended to meet at the Amegashie (Alale bridge) and then move on to the Ho Municipal Assembly to deliver a copy of their petition to Hon. Divine Bosson.
From there, they planned to go to Urban Roads to present their petition to the Urban Roads Engineer, and then they would go to the VRCC to deliver the third and final copy to the Regional Minister.
After that, they would disperse the crowd to wait for the matter to be resolved.
In an emergency meeting summon by the Hon. Divine Bosson in the Ho Municipal Assembly conference Hall on Tuesday October 17, 2023 with organizers, the MCE explained to the group the genesis and the challenges faced in the execution of the project and applauded their effort as a good step for the development of Ho.
Meanwhile, he reaffirmed and emphasized to them that the Assembly has not received any project documentation from the Urban Roads Engineer in charge of the project, making it challenging for the Assembly to thoroughly detail the project’s contents.
But he also informed the group that the assembly was planning to complete the disputed road section as well as another significant road project in the town, using funds partially obtained from the Urban Development Grant (Secondary City Project Funding).
“I discovered that they lack information about the project, even though I had provided them with all the information they required during the meeting. Firstly, has the contractor been paid to complete the work? Are they through building the bridge? We don’t know because I informed you that we don’t have any project paperwork, but since Dr. Kludjeson is a native, I guarantee that you will receive the documents.” Hon. Divine Bosson said.
He said he told the group that due to the delay and their inability to obtain the necessary paperwork, they had chosen to award the project to the Urban Roads procurement to be completed by March 6th. However, the contractor’s failure to show up at the site resulted in the fund being reversed.
According to him, the Municipality has been affected by the fund reversal since urban roads operate without funding until a work report has been submitted. Payment can only be made at that point, with the justification that no money was lost because the job report was missing.
“In a week or two, the Assembly will use the world bank loan provided by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo under the Secondary City Project Funding to fund some of the projects it has put out bids for” he added.
He promised to provide him the draft evaluation report once it has been approved.
Speaking to the media following the meeting, Vincent Hodoli, also known as Torgodo Makpa, the Convener of the Concerned Citizens of Ho, expressed his group’s satisfaction with the explanations provided regarding the issues they had brought up, the poor quality of the municipality’s roads, and the projects they had expressed concerns about.
He noted that even with the two-week notice, there is no guarantee that the October 24 protest will take place. They will be patient and hold off on starting the demonstration until after the two weeks have elapsed if nothing is done.