General News of Monday, 12 January 2015
Source: myjoyonline.com
Board Chair of the Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMTL), Osabarima Ansah Sasraku III, has accused some workers of the company of using a strike to weaken the company’s resolve to punish stealing in the government-run transport company.
Osabarima Ansah Sasraku III made the claim while responding to allegations by workers of the company that he has a hand in the disappearance of some 12 buses belonging to the company. He has flatly denied the allegation.
The workers say the Board Chair and Managing Director of the company should be dismissed because they believe they both have a hand in the disappearance of the buses.
A nationwide strike by the workers is currently underway in various MMTL bus terminals to demand their dismissal.
But speaking on Adom FM’s ‘Dwaso Nsem’, Osabarima Sasraku said there was no truth in the allegations leveled against him. The workers, he said, are rather stealing from the company.
He said the workers action was only to divert attention and stop the Board from carrying out disciplinary action against some of the workers who have misused funds.
According to him, a consumption audit conducted between January and October 2014 revealed that 32 break parts were purchased within ten months for only one bus.
These and many other revelations, Osabarima Sasaraku said, are the things the board is trying to address and because the workers are afraid of the consequences, they want to put the blame on him.
He said the procurement audit conducted also revealed that the Managing Director approved a GH?9 million supply contract for OTC Ghana Limited.
The MD, he indicated, failed to inform the Board about his decision and failed to ensure that the company supplied the equipment requested.
The Board Chairman said he has been quiet about all these things because he does not want to wash the company’s dirty linen in public.
He said most of the people including the MD who have indicted in various have been queried and that it was impossible for him as a leader to sit and watch while things go bad under his watch.
He also denied allegations that Capricon Company Limited – which belongs to him, supplied some equipment to the MMTL and that the only time he was asked to supply to the company was in 2011 but he could not supply the equipment because he did not have enough funds.
Osabarima Sasraku said he will not relent on his efforts to weed out bad nuts from the company no matter what the workers do.
Last year, investigations by Nhyira FMs Ohemeng Tawiah revealed that 12 buses belonging to the MMTL had gone missing under mysterious circumstances in Kumasi, Tamale and Wa.
Checks at the Kumasi office revealed that four buses were towed away on Saturday and Sunday night in January, this year, following a supposed ‘order from above’.
Buses declared as unserviceable and scraps per Metro Mass Transit regulations, are auctioned, and the buyer has to dismantle the vehicle at the company’s yard before evacuation.
Workers of the company are currently on a nationwide strike demanding the dismissal of the Board Chairman and the Managing Director.