The NDC Member of Parliament for Adenta, Hon Kojo Adu Asare, has called for the immediate abrogation of the $1.5 billion conflict-ridden STX Housing deal.
Hon Adu Asare believes the time has come for the deal to be entirely abrogated, adding that the Mills-led NDC government could end up being badly embarrassed by the growing boardroom crisis at STX Engineering and Construction Limited Ghana.
The STX housing project was being executed by a newly registered local company, STX Engineering and Construction Ltd. in partnership with foreign partners STX Korea with the latter owning 90 per cent shares and the former taking the remainder.
But the partners have been fighting a crippling boardroom battle recently with some key stakeholders in the deal at each other�s throat, thus putting the execution of the project in limbo.
Things got murkier last week when the Koreans, who reportedly broke away and formed a new company, STX E&C Ghana Ltd., in a terse note signed by its CEO and Executive Chairman, Im-Dong Park, claimed �On August 18, 2011 the Board of STX Engineering & Construction Ghana Ltd approved a resolution to remove Mr. BK Asamoah from the Chief Executive Office and Mr George Padi from the position of Deputy Chief Financial Officer.
�STX Engineering & Construction Ghana Ltd hereby notifies the general public that Mr BK Asamoah and Mr. George Padi do not have any rights to represent STX Engineering & Construction Ghana Ltd in any action, contract or agreement. Therefore, any commitment, contract and/or agreement made by Mr. B.K. Asamoah and Mr. George Padi are void and invalid. Furthermore, please be informed that 2 criminal complaints and 2 civil law suits have been filed against Mr B.K. Asamoah,� the statement added.
But B.K Asamoah issued a counter statement, saying, �STX Construction (Korea) is no longer an equity partner in STX Engineering and Construction Limited which STX Construction (Korea) exited in May 2011. STX Construction (Korea) therefore has no locus in STX Engineering and Construction Limited and consequently, no basis for any actions in respect of STX Engineering and Construction Limited.�
Many analysts fear this could derail the $1.5 billion project, and the Adenta MP shares similar sentiments and maintains that it is unacceptable to allow a few individuals to �toy with the sensibilities of Ghanaians�.
�I know some people may not like my position but in my candid opinion on STX honestly, the sovereign guarantee should be withdrawn. I believe that this country should not wait for any group of people to come to terms with themselves before something that affect our country can move forward, for me we can�t wait any longer. It is immoral to wait any longer because we don�t know when the board room wrangling will end. All this brouhaha started earlier this year and now it is either the Korean partners dismissing the Ghanaian or the Ghanaian partners dismissing the Koreans,� he stated.
Contributing to a panel discussion on PeaceFM�s flagship programme �Kokrokoo�, the genial NDC parliamentarian urged his own government to immediately withdraw the sovereign guarantee it granted to STX.
�I have gotten to a point where I think two, three, four or five people should not take 24 million people for a ride or toy with a party�s agenda since the consequence would be devastating,� he warned.
The STX deal is for the construction of 200,000 houses in Ghana within a period of five years, but almost a year after the contract was signed, not a single cement block has been laid in the ground..
Last month, STX Construction Company Limited, Korea, the parent company of STX Ghana, initiated legal action at a Fast Track High Court in Accra against six respondents including Bernard Kwabena Asamoah, the man believed to have introduced the deal to the NDC government.
The suit, which was filed on July 26, 2011, cites G.K. Airports Company Limited; Joseph Bardolph Asafo-Boakye, a Director of STX Ghana; George Padi; the Registrar-General as well as STX Engineering & Construction Company Ghana Limited as the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th respondents respectively, with B.K. Asamoah as the 2nd respondent.
In the notice of motion, STX is seeking several reliefs including a declaration that the special resolution �purportedly� dated February 25, 2011 and filed at the Registrar General�s Department by B.K. Asamoah, seeking to increase the stated capital in STX Engineering & Construction Company Ghana Limited without the consent and knowledge of the plaintiff, is null and void and of no effect.
The New Statesman newspaper on Tuesday August 1, reported that seven months after the flamboyant sod-cutting ceremony by President Mills for the commencement of the proposed construction of 30,000 housing units for security personnel in the country and coupled with the prediction by the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alban Bagbin, that physical houses will be seen sprawling at the various sites by July, not even a single block has been laid on the site for the STX housing project to take off.
The signing of the STX Housing Project contract triggered a lot of criticisms from the opposition NPP and civil society groups.
IMANI (a policy think-tank), Ghana Real Estates Developers Association (GREDA) and The Danquah Institute (a centre-right policy think tank) raised red flags about the project right from its inception.
DI for instance questioned why the Mills administration was allowing the commercial interest of a foreign company to dictate Ghana�s development priorities and at a cost that is potentially detrimental to the nation�s development. This was so because STX appeared to be rather the provider of the motherboard for the infrastructural expenditure priorities of the Ghana Government for the medium term, especially, when there was no indication of anything remotely similar in the 2008 manifesto of the governing party.
The NPP, for instance accused government of seeking to use the country�s oil reserves as collateral to fund the controversial STX Korean housing deal. The accusation prompted Deputy Finance Minister Fiifi Kwetey to come out to say critics have got it all wrong.
He explained that government intends to use revenue from the oil exploration as collateral for loans and not the oil reserves. But the National Coordinator for Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas, Amin Adams, countered that any such attempt will not inure to the benefit of the nation.
Meanwhile, reports say the Parliamentary Select Committee on Works and Housing is scheduled to meet on Tuesday August 23, to discuss the crisis over the project and to propose ways of curtailing ownership squabbles over the deal.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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