Committees to resolve all grievances relating to construction work on the 167.98-kilometre road from Tamale to the Tatale-Sanguli border under the Transport Sector Improvement Project (TSIP) being funded by the World Bank, have been constituted.
Grievances regarding poor project performance, social and environmental concerns, workers’ issues, and compensation issues that may come up, will be addressed by the committees.
Allegations of sexual and gender-based violence will however be escalated to a higher authority for redress.
The committees will have 15 days to handle all grievances in a fair, transparent, and timely manner.
The setting up of the grievance committees and focal persons form part of the World Bank’s Output and Performance-Based Road Contract approach to developmental projects. It is the first of its kind to be implemented in the West African Sub-region.
Ministry of Roads and Highways has thus engaged Savana Signatures, a for-impact organisation, to work towards minimizing negative social effects of the road construction on the residents in the project areas.
Under the project, Savana Signatures is to institutionalise a framework for documenting and managing all project related complaints in line with the project’s grievance redress mechanism, as well as develop a Gender Based Violence /Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) framework.
On the back of that, a central computerised system and tollfree lines, as well as other grievance reporting channels, have also been opened to receive all complaints from the communities within the five districts through which the road construction traverses.
Another key aspect of our role is the sensitisation of all stakeholders, including workers, community members and the contractors, on project-related issues
The construction have been divided into two slots with the first, a 61.98-km stretch from Nachamba No. 1 in the Tatale-Sanguli District to Zagbang in the Zabzugu District being undertaken by China Jiangxi International Economic and Technical Cooperation Limited and the China State Cooperation Engineering Cooperation.
The lot 2, a106-km stretch from Zagbang to Vittin in Tamale, is being constructed by China International Water and Electric Corporation and the Chongqing International Construction Corporation.
Addressing the committee members at their inauguration, Executive Director for Savana Signatures, Stephen Agbenyo urged the committees to put in their best efforts in addressing issues that may come up.
He reminded them of their remit, stating they have been selected to “address every grievance, whether it’s from the community, the contractor or the contractor’s workforce”.
Although the committees are expected to meet on monthly basis, Mr Agbenyo said in emergency situations, they can convene to resolve whatever grievance there is to avoid prolonging cases to be reported to Savana Signatures.
The work of the committees, he stated, is an important one considering that it has implications on the peace and security in the communities along the construction areas “because when people are aggrieved, anything at all can happen. That is why government thinks this process should be put in place.
“Already, we have a number of reports in the system so the committee already have a lot of work to do,” he added.
For the Focal Persons who were also inaugurated, Mr Agbenyo indicated they do not have the mandate to mediate any grievance.
“The mandate given them is to be able to pick intelligence, pick the issues and then report them and then the right committee will be put in place to address those issues,” he advised.
District Chief Executive for Zabzugu, Ahmed Abukari Iddrissu advised the committee members to ensure they work in a timely manner to avoid delays in the project that is expected to be completed in two years.
“The more an issue delays without getting solution, the delay it puts on the way of the contractor,” the DCE reminded the grievance committee members, adding that timely resolution of grievances will avoid suspicions and disputes among stakeholders.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana