Accra, July 28, GNA- The Minority Caucus in Parliament has alleged a procurement scandal at the Bulk Oil and Transportation Company (BOST) to the tune of US$ 39 million.
The caucus alleges that a contract sum for the construction of a single unit tower estimated at US$ 39 million had been inflated and approved by the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) at US$78 million, indicating a 100 per cent inflated price.
Addressing the Parliamentary Press Corps in Parliament on Thursday, Mr John Abdulai Jinapor, Member of Parliament for Yapei-Kusawgu Constituency said what was more shocking to the Minority was the fact that the total amount of US$78 million could get BOST a twin-unit tower as initially agreed under the contract.
He said: “The development is deliberately being superintended by the Akufo-Addo government without recourse to the law and respect to the citizenry amidst the current economic hardships.”
To that end, the Caucus has called on the government to come clean on the matter and desist from abusing the public purse.
“We, the Minority in Parliament, hereby serve notice that anything short of an independent investigation shall be rejected and denounced by the NDC and the good people of Ghana. We shall remain vigilant and resolute in our quest to ensure that the continuous looting and plundering of the resources of BOST which is our collective strategic national asset is brought to an immediate halt,” he said.
According to Mr Jinapor, the Minority was firm in their conviction that this was a classic case of causing financial loss to the state.
“This is another PDS, Ameri and Movinpinnna scandal in the making. The Energy sector under the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration has become a Pollution Haven for regularized corruption, inflated favouritism, and rusted nepotism,” he said.
Mr Jinapor, who is also the Ranking Member of the Mines and Energy Committee noted that Mr Kwame Awuah Darko, the former Chief Executive Officer at BOST, began the construction of the twin tower office in 2015 to serve as office accommodation and enhance internally generated funds at the company.
However, the current Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration falsely accused Mr Awuah Darko of inflating and padding the contract and as a result, they suspended the project.
“Although Mr Awuah Darko was cleared of any wrongdoing after a probe by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), recent developments and documents available uncovered the “outrageous scandal.
“We say so because we have noted that the current Management of BOST decided to acquire only one of the twin unit buildings due to the precarious financial position of the company, however, it applied to the Public Procurement Authority for approval to vary the original contract for the single unit from the original price of $19. 5 million per unit to a new cost of $24 million,” he said.
Mr Jinapor told the Press that to the Minority’s utmost shock and dismay, the PPA without any reasonable justification in approving allegedly hiked the contract sum to an inflated figure of $39,000,000.00 (Thirty-Nine Million United States Dollars) for a single unit when BOST could had originally constructed the twin-tower office at the original price of $39 million.
GNA