AMERI Power Plant relocation contract to be brought to Parliament – Minister
The AMERI Power Plant relocation from Takoradi to Kumasi contract agreement will be brought to Parliament for approval after Cabinet has given its endorsement, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Energy, has said.
The Minister made this known on Friday on the floor of Parliament in his response to an urgent question from Dr Kwabena Donkor, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pru East, who wanted to know from the Minister the total cost of relocation of the AMERI Plant from Takoradi to the Kumasi Area.
Dr Opoku Prempeh said the total cost of relocation of the AMERI Power Plant was not yet known, because no contract had been signed yet, even though he could give a breakdown.
“We are still negotiating at the level of Volta River Authority (VRA),” the Minister said.
He reiterated that the contract was an international one and that it would be brought to Parliament for approval before it was even signed off finally.
“I can tell you on authority that what we can do now is to initial the contract as a general agreement and bring it through Cabinet before the House,” the Minister said.
He said when the contract agreement was brought to the House, a breakdown of the total cost would be provided.
Mr Edward Abambire Bawa, MP for Bongo, said over the weekend the Parliamentary Committee for Energy, engaged the VRA and that they were informed that the cost of relocating of the plant was $34 million, and that he wanted to know from the Minister if it were so.
To this the Minister replied that he was happy that the MP said it was the VRA that gave him the information, declaring that “the truth of the matter is that it is VRA that is doing the negotiations and it is VRA that will sign the contract and the Ministry existed supply the need.”
He said when the AMERI Power Plant gets to Kumasi, the VRA would have 40 personnel out of 42 maintaining and operating the plant.
The Government of Ghana officially handed over the operations of the AMERI Power Plant to the VRA after a transfer of ownership by the AMERI Group, to the Government on January 20.
The 250-Megawatt (MW) Africa and Middle East Resource Investment (AMERI) Thermal Power Plant is expected to be transported to Kumasi this year to boost and stabilise the power system in the northern sector of Ghana.
Source: GNA