The Minority Caucus in Parliament has called on the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the National Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral to abrogate the project now.
The North Tongu Member of Parliament and the sole campaigner against the National Cathedral project, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who spoke on behalf of the Caucus, said that yesterday marked exactly a year since the contractors working on the project abandoned it for lack of funds.
According to Mr. Ablakwa, this should serve as enough proof to President Akufo-Addo and members of the National Board of Trustees that the project was a castle in the air.
“Today marks exactly a year to the day when the main contractors working on the National Cathedral project abandoned site …So, today is the first anniversary since the project stalled.
“What we are very worried about is that a year is enough time for His Excellency the President, who has declared this project his priority of priorities, and those remaining on the National Cathedral Board of Trustees; one year is enough time for them to come to the realisation that this project remains a castle in the air…
“It is time to close shop; it is time to totally abandon this project, because it cannot be completed as schedule,” he said.
He made the call when he and other Minority members addressed the Parliament Press Corps yesterday.
Providing more basis as to why the project should be abrogated, Mr. Ablakwa said that due to the suspension a lot of the works that had been done must be redone, and that would come at extra cost, which would not be borne by the contractors, but by the state.
“This one year of remarkable inactivity comes at considerable cost, as per analysis it would cost [extra] millions of dollars,” he stressed.
He said considering the delays and the associated cost of facilities that were pulled down to make way for the construction of the Cathedral, Mr. Ablakwa said, the project could cost one billion dollars.
“That is why we are saying that President Akufo-Addo, on the first anniversary of inactivity, we demand that they abrogate the contract, because we believe that as long as the contractors continue to hold valid contracts, it is [an] extra burden to the Ghanaian taxpayer.
“One year is enough for the Akufo-Addo government to realise that this project, which, per our analysis, will cost the Ghanaian taxpayer over one billion dollars, must not be continued,” Mr. Ablakwa said.
Mr. Ablakwa also pointed out that the country was facing difficult times, and so money must be used prudently.
He said the government was struggling to pay bonds that had matured; unable to procure vaccines and do so many things that would reduce the sufferings of the citizens.
He said the President and the National Board of Trustees should consider all these hardships and let go of the project.
