WR CONTRACTORS ELECT NEW EXECUTIVE (PAGE 40, MARCH 29, 2010)

A FOUR-MEMBER executive of the Western Regional branch of the Association of Road Contractors (ASROC) has been sworn in to embark on an intensive membership drive to increase the numerical strength of the association.
The association, which was formed about 17 years ago, has Messrs. George Amoako Quaicoe, Joseph Essilfie and Seth Osafo as chairman, vice-chairman and technical advisor respectively, while Mrs Nana Serwah Hammond is the treasurer.
At the swearing-in ceremony in Takoradi, the outgoing chairman of the association, Mr Samuel Kofi Addison, recounted that during the initial years, members found it difficult to organise themselves but with the support of few hard-working members, they tried through the turbulent years to survive up to today.
He said 2009 was a difficult year for the association, stressing that planned programmes could not take off due to monetary setbacks at the national secretariat of the association, mainly as a result of non-payment to contractors.
Mr Addison said with the help of the government, the association was seeking financial assistance from Eximquaranty Bank to help contractors to purchase equipment from China so as to be better resourced to acquire jobs.
He expressed the hope that the arrangement would materialise so that contractors could be assisted to acquire equipment to effectively execute their contracts.
He stated that even though it was difficult getting road construction jobs in the Western Region, the contractors should try and execute the jobs well when they won tenders so that they could still be considered for more jobs, which hitherto had been taken over by contractors outside the region.
Mr Addison said although some moderate achievements were made by the association, the biggest problem had been the inability of the old executives to put up their own secretariat due to many challenges they faced.
He expressed the hope that the new executive and the entire membership would see to it that the dream was realised.
Mr Quaicoe promised to build upon the achievements of his predecessor and bring into fruition all his unfinished agenda.