Business News of Friday, 22 December 2017
Source: Graphic.com.gh
2017-12-22
Parliament of Ghana
Members of Parliament (MPs) have urged the government to withdraw the licence of the Great Consolidated Diamond Ghana Limited (GCDGL) for failing to honour its contractual obligation to revive the operations of the Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Ghana Limited (GCDL) at Akwatia in the Eastern Region.
The legislators recalled that the GCDGL took over the operations of GCDL on August 23, 2011, with the promise to invest $100 million in a five-year period and produce one million carats of diamonds every year within the period.
Besides, they said the company promised to create 2,500 direct jobs and 50,000 indirect jobs for support services.
However, they said the GCDGL was unable to start operations six years on, let alone consider the production of diamonds or creation of jobs.
The MPs made the call for the withdrawal of the licence last Tuesday following a statement on the operations of the GCDGL by the MP for the Akwatia Constituency, Ms Mercy Adu-Gyamfi.
MP steals show
Miss Adu-Gyamfi indeed stole the show in Parliament as it was her first statement on the floor since she came to Parliament on January 7, 2017.
Therefore, her colleague MPs from the Majority and Minority shouted in excitement and anticipation when the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, mentioned her name as the one to deliver a statement.
The Deputy Majority Leader, Ms Sarah Adwoa Safo, moved back to sit by Ms Adu-Gyamfi to give her moral support.
Dressed in a dark suit with a white shirt to match, Ms Adu-Gyamfi began her statement with the following: “Mr Speaker, with your permission, I rise to make the following statement.”
She ended the statement with “Thank you Mr Speaker, I am done”, which attracted shouts of laudatory from her colleague legislators.
Meat of presentation
Ms Adu-Gyamfi said the GCDL had indicated that it would establish an integrated mining and processing industry with the main objective of turning around the fortunes of the mine.
She said the inauguration of the company “brought great hope to the people of Akwatia and the constituents whose fortunes have, since large-scale mining began in 1924, been linked with mining in the town.”
