The Director-General of State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA), Stephen Asamoah Boateng has disclosed that abrogating the Akwatia mine contract is in the interest of the state.
According to him, the government has set up an interim committee to take up the management of the company until a suitable investor comes in to take up the operations of the company.
Speaking on Okay FM’s ‘Ade Akye Abia’ programme, Mr. Asamoah Boateng explained that the government does not have any intention of collapsing local businesses, but the company which was a subsidiary of the Jospong Group was poorly managed by the Jospong Company Limited.
“Government through the State Interest and Governance Authority is ensuring that all state companies are properly managed to profit Ghanaians,” he said.
He added that government is not collapsing local businesses and that it will continue to support local businesses to improve the economy.
He maintained that government will work to revive the operations of Great Consolidated Diamonds Ghana Limited and make it more profitable.
The government has abrogated the contract awarded to Great Consolidated Diamonds Ghana Limited (GCDGL) in 2011 to mine diamonds at Akwatia for breach of contract.
The company failed to fulfil its core mandate of paying $17 million to the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC), as well as rehabilitating and refurbishing facilities at the mines to enhance production.
The GCDGL, which is a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies, took over the operations of the GCD in August 2011 and promised to invest $100 million over a five-year period and also produce one million carats of diamonds every year within the period.
Besides, it promised to create 2,500 direct jobs and 50,000 indirect jobs.
But the community had complained about the inability of the company to fulfil the promises, which had affected the economy of the area.
The New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Akwatia, Ms Mercy Adu-Gyamfi, had, for some time now, led a wave of appeals for the government to withdraw the GCDGL’s licence for failing to honour its contractual obligations to revive the operations of the former GCD.
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Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]
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