Accra, July 8, GNA - Vice President Aliu Mahama on Tuesday tasked the Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GIS) to work with other relevant professional institutions to reduce the cost of projects in Ghana, which he said was the highest in the West Africa Sub-Region.

Opening an international conference of the Institution and its international partners in Accra, Vice President Mahama said the government was worried about the high cost of the implementation of projects, particularly in road construction.

The five-day conference, attended by more than 100 Quantity Surveyors, Project Managers and Cost Engineers from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Botswana, South Africa and the United States, is under theme: "Contemporary Issues in Cost Management and Quantity Surveying."

Vice President Mahama said the theme of the conference was relevant to Ghana's situation as the government was pursuing a policy to streamline public procurement practices, adding that the conference should focus on solutions to ensure effective cost management of Ghana's scare resources.

He said the government was committed to providing adequate social infrastructure and services to improve the quality of life of Ghanaians and had, therefore, initiated many roads; health; education and other projects.

However, he said the high level of shoddy works seen in the execution of projects and indiscipline in the construction industry should be addressed immediately.

He said: "We are executing these projects in the face of serious financial constraints. With such massive expenditure, it behoves on us, as a government to procure works, services and goods optimally and manage efficiently with adequate cost consciousness to the advantage of the country."

But, he noted, "in a situation where you find a Civil Engineer performing the functions of an Architect and an Architect undertaking planning schemes or a planner preparing valuations for work done by a contractor, or a Quantity Surveyor designing building projects, there are bound to be problems."

The Vice President said the practice of paying contractors for no work done or being overpaid was unacceptable.

He appealed to international consulting firms and contracting organisations to partner local ones to enable the latter to build their capacity, benefit from modern technology and also to create jobs on the domestic scene.

Vice President Mahama advised the GIS to explore financial and technical means of undertaking projects on the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer System in line with project management models.

Mr Kenneth Krampah, President of GIS, said the conference would seek best practices in cost management of national and private resources through prudent procurement practices and make recommendations for improving the Public Procurement Bill.

"By virtue of the magnitude of the funds spent on procurement in our national budget, it becomes the single most important area of financial management that calls for the highest attention if the economy is to be properly managed."

Mr Krampah said Quantity Surveyors, Cost Engineers and Project Managers had a crucial role to play since their daily practices put them directly in charge of procurement of works and services, and also involved them in the procurement of goods, hence the theme of the conference.

The African Association of Quantity Surveyors and the International Cost Engineering Council are co-organisers of the conference, which would look at Property Development and Cost Management, World Bank Method of Procurement among other issues.