Deputy Finance Minister Dispels Minority’s BOST Twin Tower Construction Cost Allegation
The Deputy Minister for Finance, John Ampontuah Kumah has stated that the Minority in Parliament’s allegations regarding the cost of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company’s (BOST) twin tower construction are untrue.
According to him, the initial cost of the project at US$35 million was established by the erstwhile administration in 2015, however, in 2017 when the current government took over, “the new Management of BOST noticed various procurement infractions and malfeasance associated with the original contract awarded for the construction of the twin towers which compelled it to write to EOCO, PPA requesting for a value for money audit on the project”.
“The Ministry of Finance received a request from BOST for the construction of the twin tower of which We gave approval for only one of the twin towers to be constructed at a cost of $23.5 million. Note that even though it is a twin tower both towers differ in terms of shape and use. The approval We gave was for a tower to serve as an office space.”
He noted that the two blocks per the valuer’s report in 2020 cost $49.6 million and not $78 million as the Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee claimed.
“Furthermore, the PPA gave approval for the single tower to be built at $24 million usd and not $39 million usd as falsely claimed by Hon John Jinapor. A copy of the PPA letter is hereby attached”, he added.
Background
On July 28, 2022, the Member of Parliament for Yapei-Kusawgu constituency, John Jinapor alleged that the cost of a single unit of the twin unit building to be used as office accommodation for BOST has been inflated to US$78 million.
“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”, Jinapor said.
He added that “To our utmost shock and dismay, but, of course, as usual of this government, the PPA without any reasonable justification in granting the approval 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 have originally constructed the twin-tower office at the original price of $39 million”,
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
