The government is set to re-tender the Odaw River drainage project following the termination of the contract due to the contractor’s poor performance.
The Minister for Works, Housing and Water Resources, Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, disclosed this when he addressed Parliament on June 29, explaining that the decision was taken after the contractor failed to meet expected delivery standards despite works commencing in July 2024.
The project, which involves the construction of a 1.5-kilometre box culvert from Nima-Paloma to the Odaw River, was initially scheduled to be completed within 18 months.
“However, due to poor performance, the contract for this work has been terminated. At the point of termination, there were still some ongoing works at critical stages which required immediate completion,” the Minister told Parliament.
He noted that although the contract has been terminated, several key components of the project remain outstanding and require urgent attention to reduce the risk of flooding in parts of Accra.
According to him, the outstanding works include the demolition of the Odaw channel’s outfall wall to prevent sediment build-up and flooding, the completion of downstream drainage connections to the Odaw channel, and the reconstruction of an upstream drainage section that had earlier been demolished.
To ensure continuity of critical works, Mr. Adjei said the Ministry has secured approval from the World Bank to undertake emergency interventions while processes are underway to repackage and re-tender the full project.
“The Ministry, therefore sought approval from the World Bank to immediately complete this critical works whiles re-packaging of the project continues,” he stated.
He further explained that the continuation and re-tendering of the project depend on obtaining commitment authorisation from the Ministry of Finance to proceed with procurement processes for a new contractor.
“Mr. Speaker, to enable us re-tender and repackage works, we require commitment authorization from the Ministry of Finance to continue the process,” he added.
The Minister disclosed that the Ministry will, in the coming days, submit the necessary documentation to the Finance Ministry for approval to allow work to resume under a new arrangement.
He also noted that the desilting and dredging works on the Odaw River are being implemented separately under the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project. That component of the flood mitigation programme began in February 2024 and is expected to run until December 2027, funded through a World Bank-supported initiative.
