Vincent Ekow Assafuah, the Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, has stated that the newly acquired earth-moving equipment under the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP) cannot be rented out for private purposes.
According to him, the equipment was procured by the government solely to assist the various assemblies in infrastructural works and need not be used for private purposes.
The government on Wednesday, July 31, launched the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP) with funds from the District Assembly Common Fund and donor partners to address infrastructure challenges within the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) across the country.
The project, which will see the allocation of earth-moving equipment to assemblies across the country, will facilitate the completion of various road projects within these areas and also farmers in rural communities who lack agricultural equipment, improving their farming activities.
Speaking on Point Blank on Eyewitness News on July 31, Mr Assafuah highlighted the programme’s focus on monitoring and accountability.
He emphasised that the operational manual provided to the committees overseeing the programme should be strictly adhered to, with no exceptions.
“These machines have trackers in them so anybody who so wishes that he wants the law dealing with such a person then you may want to go on that tangent. You cannot cross your border. When the machines enter your district, for example, Old Tafo Constituency, the borders of Old Tafo Constituency have been marked, and it is being tracked at the central level.
“As soon as it crosses from Pankronu to [Etemetem], you know you have a problem. You cannot also give an excuse that you are going to buy sand, gravel or whatever, such cannot be done. All that has been said in the operational manual that we have given to the committees would have to be followed, and adhered to strictly without any excuse whatsoever.
“We have a two-year warranty as we speak but after that, I think that the government will have a way to be able to deal with it.”
He continued: “For now it is not part of the arrangement. You cannot rent it for any private us,”