The ranking member of Parliament’s Transport Committee, Mr Kwame Agbodza Governs, has cautioned Parliament to tread cautiously in granting waivers to contractors for the procurement of equipment meant for construction purposes.
According to the lawmaker, there are times some contractors already have the equipment and to procure new ones, they would ask for waivers which, when granted, will only amount to a financial loss to the state.
His comment comes on the back of a report of the Finance Committee on a request for a waiver of import duties amounting to GHS10,879,228.10 on materials, equipment and services to be procured for the construction of five technical and vocational education and training (TVET) centres.
The centres are meant to be modern and fully functional in various locations in Ghana.
But speaking on the floor of the house on Monday, 26 October 2020, Mr Agbodza Governs, who expressed concern about the continuous granting of waivers to companies when some of these equipment are already available, advised Parliament to tread cautiously.
For his part, a Deputy Finance Minister, Mr Kwaku Kwarteng, said if Mr Agbodza Governs knows of any such company that is granted a waiver unfavourably, he should draw the attention of the Ministry to it.