PDS saga: Due diligence is not an event – Amewu

General News of Thursday, August 1, 2019

Source: starrfm.com.gh

2019-08-01

Energy Minister John Peter Amewu has strongly repressed critics that the Akufo-Addo government has unfortunately failed in its attempt to take control of the company ECG by Power Distribution Services.

PDS took control of ECG on March 1 after its main shareholder, the Philippine consortium Meralco, won the United States Millennium Challenge Power Compact Two.

As part of the Power Compact, six projects are being implemented to address the root causes of the unavailability and unreliability of food in Ghana.

The project includes an ECG Financial and Operational Rehabilitation Project, a NEDCo Financial and Operational Recovery Project, a Regulatory Strengthening and Capacity Building Project and an Access Project.

The rest consists of a project to improve the power generation sector and an energy efficiency and demand-side management project.

The government and parliament have been criticized for failing to scrutinize the ECG transfer agreement to PDS as part of the Power Compact II.

However, at a press conference hosted by the Ministry of Information on Thursday, August 1, 2019, Amewu dismissed criticism and said, "I want you to understand that the due diligence principle has always been a continuous process. This is not an event.

At the same time, the government officially opened a thorough investigation into the violations detected in the PDS contract and announced that the investigation would be completed within 30 days.

S addressing reporters in Accra, Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the investigation team was composed of insurance survey experts , officials from the Ministries of Energy and Finance, as well as officials from the ECG and MIDA. Nkrumah said the investigation would determine the nature of the offenses and advise on the next steps suggested.

"D here Tuesday, the team is expected to DOHA-Qatar as part of the investigation. All interested parties are cooperating with the investigation at this stage, "he told reporters.

The government, in a statement of Tuesday, July 30, 2019, suspended the concession agreement between the Ghana government and PDS after finding fundamental and substantial breaches of the PDS's obligation to provide payment guarantees. (guaranteed on demand) for the transaction that was discovered later. due diligence.

Mr. Nkrumah revealed that a second team had been tasked to continue his engagement with the US government through his agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

"This commitment relates to possible next steps after the survey and information sharing channels as part of this investigation. This team should also visit the United States, possibly next week, as part of their commitment, "he added.