Ghana’s Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, has expressed displeasure over the Electricity Company Ghana’s (ECG) inability to clear 2,500 containers of critical materials at the Tema Port.
Last week, the new Energy Minister paid a working visit to the Tema Port, where he was overwhelmed by the number of containers procured by the ECG that had been stuck at the port, attracting huge demurrage charges.
Jinapor told this portal that, at the time of his visit, the 2,500 containers had attracted demurrage estimated at GHS1.5 billion.
“This is unacceptable,” he said. “What led to this untenable situation? Why would ECG adopt this model?”
The minister also alleged that some individuals are stealing and reselling these containers at knock-down prices.
“The container that cost about $500,000 is being bought by people at $100,000, brought into the open market, and sold to the same contractors. We cannot allow this, and we will not allow it,” he warned.
Asked when these containers were procured, Mr. Jinapor said many of them were procured last year.
“Many of them were procured last year, and some stayed there for weeks, while others stayed for months. You can guess the level of demurrage and the cost to the taxpayer. We will not allow this to continue. Under my watch as minister, I am determined to bring sanity to the energy sector, particularly the distribution sector.”
“I know some people will not be happy, and some of the comments you get are largely because some people benefit from this scheme, and that is the truth. Some people benefit from this scheme while the Ghanaian taxpayer suffers. We cannot allow this, and I am determined to stop it,” he stated categorically.
Officials of the Electricity Company of Ghana have yet to comment on the issue.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
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