AMEYAW EKUMFI DISMISSES ALLEGATIONS OF LACK OF TRANSPARENCY

The former Minister of Ports, Harbours and Railways, Prof. Christopher Ameyaw Ekumfi, has refuted allegations over the lack of transparency in the procurement of two Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) commuter trains that was awarded to Amandi Holdings, an Israeli-based firm in the country. “Procurement was done properly.

It went through due process and received approval by the Procurement Board,” he noted. Prof. Ekumfi was reacting to some media publications that alleged lack of transparency in the procurement of the DMUs by Amandi Holdings Limited, which was awarded the contract by the Ministry of Ports, Harbours and Railways. According to the former Minister, although some companies had in the past assisted his outfit in securing funds for numerous projects by the ministry, it never swindled any of them in the award of the procurement of the two DMUs. In explaining how his outfit got in touch with V. D. Swami and Company Limited, Professor Ekumfi said the company was initially supposed to provide the Ministry with coaches using an Indian facility, but because his outfit didn't agree with their specifications, a financial facility (amount not quoted) approved to execute a number of projects by the Ministry was never released by the Indian government, after initially granting the ministry a US$13million loan facility, hence the intervention of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, with HIPC-sourced funds. “Swami was initially to provide the ministry with coaches, using an Indian facility, but because we didn't agree with their specifications, we didn't get the facility. That is the reason why the Ministry of Finance came to our rescue to finance the project locally. For you to use that facility, you need to use an Indian company. When we got US$13million from the Indian Government, we had already agreed that this cannot be produced by an Indian company. We had also gone through the process to get Amandi Holdings to produce the commuter train,” he said. According to him, the US$13 million loan facility, granted to the Ministry of Ports, Harbours and Railways, was used to procure other rehabilitation items to revamp the railways sector. Touching on why V. D. Swami and Company Limited was refused the contract, the former minister said his outfit was nearly deceived by the company in awarding the contract to them, but after detecting some foul play, had to refuse them with the contract. “Swami almost deceived us. We provided them with draft specifications, but they came back after making adjustments in those specifications. We got to know that when our people had identified that they'd changed a few things. The most significant one was the speed in delivery. It was going to crawl, and we said that no, we are not going to accept this arrangement. You get us the money, only to provide us with sub-standard coaches,” noted Prof. Akumfi. On why Angelique International Limited also failed in the tender process, Prof. Akumfi said that company also provided specifications which were far below the expectations of the Railways Company. Prof. Ekumfi also refuted allegations that he lobbied for funds intended for a water project for the procurement of the commuter train, and advised anyone who was not clear about the whole process, to go to the Ministry of Ports, Harbours and Railways to crosscheck their facts. On March 26th, 2009, two Diesel Multiple Units (commuter trains), meant for the country, were shipped at the Tianjin seaport by the manufacturer, China Northern Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry (CNR) Tangshan Railway Vehicle Company Limited, on board a Beluga Sky Sails Vessel. It arrived in the country the following month, May 24th, 2009 as scheduled. This was after a short ceremony held in CNR Tangshan, of which the President of AMD, Ghana, the Vice-Mayor of Tangshan city and Vice-President of the CNR were present. The DMU is composed of 2M +4T. It has a seating capacity of 616 (each coach has 104 seating capacity) with a design speed of 80 Km/h. The specifications are as follows: Cars per unit 2M+4T Wheel arrangement Bo-Bo Transmission AC/AC Rated output per motor 150 kW Design speed 80 km/h Weight per car Mc48.3, T39.5 t Seating capacity per car Mc40,T134 Length per car Mc17,800,T17,200 mm Customer Ghana AMD Track gauge 1,000 mm The Ghana Railways Company has for the past three decades been struggling on its feet to catch up with time, but as each day passes by, the company's situation keeps on deteriorating. The importation of these DMUs has therefore been hailed by many as a step in the right direction by the government in its bid to revamp the ailing company. The DMUs are commuter trains that would ply the Accra-Tema rail lines when commissioned.
Source: Stephen Odoi-Larbi - Ghanaian Chronicle