MARITIME WORKERS BACK CONSORTIUM

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, May 19, 2016

The Tema District Council of the Maritime Dockworkers Union (MDU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has backed calls for the government use a consortium of Ghanaian companies to rescue the stricken PSC Tema Shipyard.

According to the union, a consortium comprising the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) could help revive the shipyard as recommended by a committee in 2009.

MDU, at a news conference in Tema jointly addressed by Felix Nii Anang-La and Ebenezer Kodwo Taylor, chairman and secretary of the council respectively, said they had “participated actively in the struggles of Tema Shipyard to ensure that the company operates at its optimum for our country to reap the maximum benefit from the strategic national asset.”

They said that their decision was informed by the fact that the Chris Ackumey Committee Report of 2009 which formed the basis for the buy-back of the shipyard from the Malaysian administration had mentioned GPHA as one of the companies that should manage the shipyard in addition to Penang Shipbuilding and Construction to conclude the buy-back arrangement.

“The Tema District Council of the MDU used the payment of over $6 million by GPHA in the buy-back arrangement to strongly push our position for the takeover of the shipyard but Hon. Dzifa Attivor, then Minister of Transport, debunked our argument that the money belonged to the government and so the payment should not be used as a basis for advancing the takeover by GPHA,” the council said.

They said that the government later abandoned the idea of a takeover of the shipyard by a Ghanaian institution and opted for a strategic investor with the help of a transaction advisor but that also proved to be unsuccessful.

“We are providing these detailed historical records to support our long-standing conviction that PSC Tema Shipyard should be managed by Ghanaian institutions which is the motivation of our involvement in the struggles of the shipyard.”

The council voiced concern about the recent agitations at the PSC Tema Shipyard and said that it had been involved in the activities to restore peace to the company towards a sustainable future.

The council said government must involve it in the discussion about the future of the shipyard, stressing that the announcement by current Minister of Transport Fifi Kwetey that the government intends to hand over the shipyard to the GPHA to manage had come to them as a surprise.

“It is our view that a combination of the expertise and capital strength of GPHA which is a well-established maritime industry, GNPC, which operates in the oil industry and SSNIT will be able to revamp the PSC Tema shipyard.”

The council disassociated itself from ‘interest’ groups that had been accused of bringing external workers to the shipyard to protest during the Minister’s visit.

“We condemn the mercenary activities of those external workers and their backers.”