News:
July 6, 2011
Government has revealed that it has secured $1.5 billion for the start of the STX Housing project.
Addressing Parliament on Tuesday July 5, 2011 Water Resources, Works and Housing Minister Alban Bagbin told the House that Barclays Bank Capital is the leading consortium of banks which are signatories to loans required for the STX Housing Project.
“The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has on behalf of government issued the sovereign guarantee and made the necessary guarantees for the transfer. A dedicated account has been opened at the Bank of Ghana for the necessary transaction.
“In the meantime STX Engineering and Construction Ltd per their programme of implementation will start land preparation this July and are currently mobilising to send equipment to the site,” Hon Bagbin disclosed.
The former Majority Leader’s remarks come in the wake of media reports that the $10billion housing deal between the government of Ghana and STX Korea was on the verge of collapse due to internal bickering among the parties. However, Hon Bagbin confirmed the necessary steps were being taken to ensure the project saw the light of day.
“What must be done is that the Ministry of Finance must ensure that the proper procedures and the accounting and the financial procedures are all followed through.
“There is no transfer into the account yet because the project as I said would start this month. Surely the figure has been approved by Parliament which is $1.5 billion.”
However, the opposition New Patriotic Party Member (NPP) has raised questions about the propriety of the project, especially what they describe as the mortgaging of the country’s newfound oil wealth to a single project.
Source: citifmonline