The completion date of the Takoradi PTC Interchange may not be realised as work on the project has halted due to unpaid claims to constructors.

General Secretary of the Construction and Material Workers' Union of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr. Richard Asamoah – Mensah, revealed this while attributing the set back to some conditionalities being imposed on Ghana by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Mr Asamoah-Mensah said Sinohydro, the company working on the Takoradi Interchange, which is 80% complete, received a letter from the Ministry of Finance last year titled “Suspension of payment on selected external debt of the government of Ghana.”

“They explained that government has communicated to them that they won’t be honoring payments for work done because of the IMF deal the country is about signing.

They have gotten to see that there is a need for the government to have certain agreements with them. Because of that, the bankers over there are saying they are not going to release any money to them. This is bringing the project to a halt,” he told the media on Tuesday.

The Takoradi PTC Interchange was to be opened to traffic in May or June this year, according to Mr. Richard Asamoah-Mensah.

According to the union, a total of 3,145 constructors are being laid off as a result of the economic facility being discussed.

A breakdown reveals that Contracta, the company working on the Takoradi market circle, has laid off 121 workers in Takoradi; 339 workers in Kumasi.

Sinohydro has dismissed 453 workers in Takoradi, 109 workers in Sunyani; and 223 workers in Kumasi.

In the rail sector, Via Build has laid off 41 workers in Takoradi, with Amandi laying off 1,500 staff throughout the whole country. Rolider has also laid off 359 employees from their operation sites throughout the country.

“You can just imagine what is happening in the construction sector and the government has come out emphatically that it is a year of roads. We don't know what is happening,” Richard Asamoah – Mensah bemoaned.

Takoradi PTC Interchange is the 4th Sinohydro project the Government is to execute in the country to accelerate social and infrastructural development.

In order to prevent a debt default, government is restructuring its debt . Debt restructuring has become relevant since without such an initiative, Ghana risks losing support from the IMF.

Source: The Independent Ghana