CORDINATING COUNCIL DENIES STORY (PAGE 19, MAY 8, 2010)

The Upper East Regional Co-ordinating Council (UERCC) has denied a story carried by an Accra daily that the Upper East Regional Minister and the Regional Tender Review Committee have been involved in some form of corruption in the award of contracts.
Addressing a press conference in Bolgatanga, the acting Regional Co-ordinating Director, Mr Gilbert Nuru-Teg, described the May 5, 2010 publication as factually inaccurate and demanded an unqualified apology and retraction from the newspaper
Flanked by the Regional Economic Planning Officer, Mr Sagito Issaka, the Regional Consultant of the AESL, Mr J.K. Boamah, and the Regional Director of the Ghana Highway Authority, Mr David Hammond, the acting RCD said contrary to assertions made by the paper, all the necessary procurement processes were followed by the Tender Review Committee prior to the award of the contract to Messrs Talkai Enterprise.
Those, he explained, included the placing of adverts, the sale of document, tender opening, evaluation and award of contract.
He noted that contrary to what was published in the newspaper, the advert for that particular project appeared in the February 6, 2010 issue of the Ghanaian Times, adding that the project in question was located on the compound of the Bawku Technical Institute and not the Bawku Senior High/Technical School, as the newspaper alleged.
Mr Nuru-Teg said the assertion that some portions of the project were awarded before being advertised was erroneous and baseless.
”We challenge any contractor holding an award letter on the project to come and prove it,” he challenged.
“We also wish to state that the letter from the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, reference number UERCC/CONS/32/10, advising the Upper East Region was dated March 3, 2010, contrary to the false impression created by the paper,” he said.
According to him, it was impossible for a project whose documentation started around the middle of March to have reached foundation level within five to six weeks, as shown in the newspaper.
“Apparently, the newspaper did not do any investigation on the information it had or did a shoddy and prejudicial investigation before publishing such a fallacious story. We do not want to believe that some faceless individuals, with diabolical intentions against the RCC and its heads, are behind the said story but the one-sided stand taken by the newspaper by not contacting any official of the RCC to ascertain the veracity of the information raises legitimate questions about the credibility of the story,” Mr Nuru-Teg said.
He said the doors of the UERCC were always open and advised the editorial team of the newspaper to, in the future, cross-check its facts by consulting the heads of the institution or consultants on development projects before publishing such stories.
“It is quite evident that the newspaper published an untrue and unauthenticated story with the ultimate aim of damaging the image of the UERCC,” he said.
On behalf of the RCC, he demanded an unqualified apology and the retraction of the story by the newspaper, adding that the matter had been referred to the lawyers of the RCC for advice.