Blame government, not educational institutions for abandoned GETFund projects – PAC Chair 

The chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, Dr James Klutse Avedzi says the abandoning of GETFund projects in the various educational institutions shows a lack of interest by the Government to ensure their early completion. Thus, it is unfair to blame or question the management of those schools for abandoned projects under the GETFund, which they do not control or fund from the institutional level, he said.

“This is as a result of misplaced priority on the part of the government,” he said during the zonal sitting of the PAC with technical universities and colleges of education on the 2021 Auditor-General’s Report in Tamale. The PAC sitting was to scrutinise institutions in the five regions of the north on the report and check whether measures had been put in place to adhere to the audit recommendations for further action.

The institutions that appeared before the committee during the sitting, told the PAC that their follow-ups on the abandoned projects indicated that the contractors left the site because they were not paid.  Twelve projects at the Dr. Hilla Limann Technical University, under the GETFund at various stages of completion, have been abandoned.

These include a students’ hall of residence, a rector’s residence and 10 staff accommodation units. “The purpose of the GETFund is for infrastructure development. Government should focus on that rather than areas that are not the main plan of the Fund,” Dr Avedzi said.

“Procuring tablets for students when there are abandoned classroom projects is a misplaced priority,” he said, and added that the institutions were not in the position to answer questions in such instances.

Source: GNA