Koforidua, July 03, GNA - Mr Kwame Afreh, National President of the Building Contactors Association, on Wednesday expressed worry about proliferation of contractors of late and suggested that registration of contractors be streamlined. The measure, he said, would ensure that contractors in the field are qualified and would do quality work at all times. Mr Afreh expressed the concern when he interacted with the Eastern Region Branch of the association in Koforidua as part of a national tour.

He suggested that any new person who wanted to be a contractor should be carefully screened before one was given a license to commence business and that there should be dignity in the profession. Mr Afreh told the members that it had been realized that the "tenders system" was not helping them much and for that matter the association had decided to look for contracts and give them to members to ensure that they stay in business.

He said the association was liaising with the Ghana Education Service and other agencies to give them jobs to be shared to members. Mr Afreh advised members to form joint ventures instead of individualism and to look for jobs and warned that if they did not sit up Chinese companies would take all jobs from them. He said the association would soon be organizing training workshops for members on how to manage their businesses efficiently. The national president talked about frustrations members go through before getting their certificates after completion of work and said plans were far advanced to address that situation. Mr Obeng Yeboah, Eastern Regional Chairman of the association, urged members to pay their dues promptly. During an open forum members spoke about the situation where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder as a major cause of shoddy work done by some contractors. Members said they were not happy about delays in payment on works executed on government contracts.