By Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Yapei Kusawgu Constituency, Savanna Region, John Abdulai Jinapor, has raised an alarm over the relocation of the Ameri Power Plant to Kumasi at a cost of $35 million Dollars (280 M Ghana Cedis) involving private entity.
According to the MP, the Minority has noted with grave concern attempt by the Government to reintroduce Metalinions Trading Company into the whole scenario.
“You recalled that somewhere 2018, Metalinions Company was at the center of Ameri scandal which led to the dismissal of then Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko” he said.
John Abdulai Jinapor, who speaks for the Minority on Mines and Energy issues said, they have been informed at the Committee meeting that, the Volta River Authority, VRA, has been requested by Government to enter into an agreement with the said company to pre-finance the relocation of the Ameri plant to Kumasi.
He accused government of “once again using suspicious means to appropriate the plant to the cronies and friends. We want to, as a Minority vehemently oppose this whole idea of signing this with a private entity and spending a whopping amount of 280 million Ghana cedis.”
The Minority at the news conference in Parliament on 29th June, 2022, called on the government, to as matter of urgency “transfer the Ameri plant to VRA as was originally envisaged.”
He said, the VRA has the capacity to handle and manage that plant and this must be done without any delay.
“We are going to use any parliamentary process to ensure that this illegitimate way of trying to appropriate the Ameri plant to cronies will not be tolerated” he said.
“The Ameri plant was brought into the country by the National Democratic Congress (NDC, Government under Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) agreement and that agreement has since expired, and the Plant has been transferred to the Government of Ghana contrary to originally envisaged agreement to transfer the plant to VRA” Mr Jinapor added.
Background
Government is to resume ownership of the 250-megawatt (MW) Africa and Middle East Resource Investment (AMERI) thermal power plant from February 1, 2021 per the terms of the deal.
The Dubai based firm arrived in the country in October 2015 to assist in resolving the power crisis at the time.
The deal was signed by the government at a total cost of US$510 million on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis.
Based on the BOOT terms, the government through the Volta River Authority (VRA) will commence the ownership, operation and maintenance mandate by February 1, 2021.
Owning the plant comes with many benefits to the State. It will lead to cheaper thermal power because there will be no capacity charges, increase the country’s power portfolio and VRA’s capacity to tap into the West African market, among others.