‘President Akufu Addo and Attorney General failed to acknowledge my petitions addressed to them’ – Boankra Concessionaire reveals
The Concessionaire in charge of the construction of the Boankra Integrated Logistics Terminal project (BILT), Ashanti Port Services Limited (APSL) says the consortium was forced to seek redress at the Ghana Arbitration Center after the office of the President and the Attorney General failed acknowledged petitions addressed to them.
APSL has observed that, they wrote numerous letters to the Office of the President and the Attorney General after the Transport Ministry through the Ghana Shippers Authority hinted on terminating the contract which was approved by an act of Parliament in 2020
The letters according to APSL was to seek the intervention of the Attorney General and the President to stop the Transport Ministry from unilaterally halting the contract which could lead to a huge Judgement Debt on the shoulders of the country.
Petitions to President and Attorney General
According to a document available to OTEC News desk, the APSL on July 31, 2023 sent a petition to the office of the president calling on him to meet the two parties to iron out whatever problems that may have marred the project
The petition copied to the Secretary to the President, Board Chairman of the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) and the Chief Executive Officer for GSA also briefed the president about the numerous interference by the Ministry of Transport and how it was impacting negatively to the progress of the work, calling on the president to intervene for the smooth completion of the project
Similar petition was addressed to th office of the Attorney General on November 14, 2023
APSL revealed that, all attempts to get the high authorities to resolve the problems proved futile as the office of the President and the Attorney General failed to respond to the petion until the final termination of the contact
Bone of Contention
APSL in its petition to the president pointed out that, the Transport Ministry through the Ghana Shippers Authority ordered Justmoh Constructions Limited to embark on earthworks without the approval of the APSL, the main consortium in charge of the project.
The petition further added, that, after being told by an independent consultant that, the earthworks will cost 4 million dollors, the contractor later submitted a certificate of 30 million dollars for earthworks with the approval of the Concessionaire.
The move which affected the project sum for the first phase lead to the unilateral abrogation of the contract by the Ghana Shippers Authority
Legal Action
Following the abrogation of the contract, APSL has taken a legal action seeking a compensation from the government
The consortium is seeking damages totaling over Three billion dollars, which they claim is the projected profit margin over the 27-year operating period of the project.
According to Ashanti Port Services Limited, the contract was terminated by the Ghana Shippers Authority working through the Ministry of Transport, despite the consortium’s efforts to fulfill their obligations under the Build, Operate, and Transfer agreement.
Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/ Jacob Agyenim Boateng
