The Staff Associations of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) seem to have incurred the chagrin of government with the rejection of the takeover of the company under a management contract with the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA).
The management contract is part of the NEDCo Financial and Operational Turnaround (NFOT) Project under which MiDA has allocated USD 54,191,650.00 to be used to improve the operations of the company.
Even though the workers are in support of the NFOT, they strongly rejected the management contract component or private takeover.
The staff associations went further to indicate their readiness to oppose any attempts to force through the management contract by undertaking a series of protest actions.
This, government says has led to the reallocation of the NFOT funds to another project after several attempts to get the staff association to back down failed.
In a statement issued by its Head of Communications and Public Affairs Unit Nana Kofi Oppong-Damoah, the Ministry of Energy expressed its unhappiness with the stance of the staff associations.
The leadership of the association stood its ground in rejecting the management contract despite several assurances from government including reducing the duration of the arrangement from 5 to 2 years.
This, the ministry of Energy found to be unacceptable.
“Several meetings were held between the Ministry of Energy, Board members and Management of NEDCo as well as senior staff members of NEDCo in the bid to address issues and secure the funds for the infrastructure projects in NEDCo’s area of operation.”
“Owing to the stance of NEDCo, it got to the point that government had to intervene to ensure that the funds were secured,” the statement indicated.
The stance of the association, the ministry of Energy said has led to the reallocation of the funds to a different approach.
“During a review meeting to define the current status of implementation of projects and to re-strategize towards effective utilization of Compact Funds on the projects that must be undertaken to meet the Compact’s goal and fulfill its objectives, the funds meant for NEDCo’s Financial and Operational Turnaround Project had to be reallocated to the construction of a Bulk Supply Point (BSP) at Kasoa,” the Energy ministry stated.
The Energy ministry has therefore proceeded to virtually wash its hands of attempts to secure funding to improve on the operations of NEDCo.
“With the grant (Compact Funds) reallocated to another project, NEDCo would have to seek new funds either by borrowing or other financial arrangements in order to be able to implement projects intended to have been undertaken with the Compact Funds. Also, the failure to utilize the Compact Funds will negatively affect people in NEDCo’s catchment area,” the ministry stated.
Story by: Sena Nombo/Radiogoldlive.com
