Following renewed debate about the viability of the $2 billion deal the government signed with China to improve infrastructure in Ghana, NDC’s Felix Kwakye Ofosu has described the agreement as a joke.
Stating his views in a short write up on Monday, September 27, 2021, the former Deputy Information Minister said the governing NPP propagandists are currently presenting false claims about the deal to parry justified criticism from a section of the public.
According to him, key timelines have been missed under the project because the deal barter deal was a sham.
“In 2017, we were told there was a $2 billion jackpot by Dr Bawumia under which the Chinese firm, Sinohydro, will undertake infrastructure projects worth $2 billion to be paid for with sales made from refining Ghanaian bauxite.
“Then in 2018, we were told there was $500 million available immediately to construct Roads and Bridges. This amount become $640m in an EPC contract agreement brought to parliament that same year.
“The projects under this phase were time-bound and not supposed to run ad infinitum. All the 10 lots (phase 1) projects were scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020. As we speak, three clear years after the agreement was taken to Parliament, not a single one of these lots has been completed. Most of them have not even started,†he stated.
Read his full write up below.
THE SINOHYDRO DEAL IS A HUGE JOKE
As usual, NPP propagandists here, have in an uncritical manner, run riot with misleading claims and untruths passed on to them under a perceived pre-emptive effort to parry justified criticism of the Sinohydro deal led by Vice President Bawumia.
The following facts would however suffice:
- In 2017, we were told there was a $2 billion jackpot by Dr Bawumia under which the Chinese firm, Sinohydro, will undertake infrastructure projects worth $ 2 billion to be paid for with sales made from refining Ghanaian bauxite.
- Then in 2018, we were told there was $500 million AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY to construct Roads and Bridges. This amount become $640m in an EPC contract agreement brought to parliament that same year.
- The projects under this phase were time bound and not supposed to run ad infinitum. ALL the 10 lots (phase 1) projects were scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020. As we speak, three clear years after the agreement was taken to Parliament, NOT A SINGLE one of these lots has been completed. Most of them have not even started.
- As at the end of 2020, official figures contained in briefings sent to Parliament by government showed that less than $40m had been drawn down out of the $640m.Government now claims that they have drawn down $ 100 million which represents a paltry 15% of the $ 640 million and 5% of the entire $ 2 billion. How can this government be taken seriously with such an appalling drawdown rate?
- The answer to questions about Sinohydro is not a list of unconstructed of roads. The answer must show that $640 million has been spent to build roads as of the end of 2020 according to specific promises made in the EPC agreement sent to Parliament.
This is actually a party that once contracted a loan from a hairdressing salon and made so much noise as though the $1 billion promised then was coming the following day. It NEVER came!
About the Sinohydro deal
The government entered into a $2 billion Master Project Support Agreement (MPSA) with the Chinese state-run, Sinohydro Corporation Limited in September 2018.
Under the deal, Sinohydro, a hydropower engineering and construction firm, will finance and execute the construction of infrastructural projects across the length and breadth of Ghana in exchange to have access to sites to mine bauxite.
The Atiwa forest was subsequently earmarked as the site to be exploited by the Chinese company for 15 years.
Located in the country’s southeastern part, Atiwa forest is a 26,000 hectares area rich in bauxite and other mineral resource deposits like manganese and iron.
According to the US geological department, the Atiwa forest holds more than 960 million metric tonnes of bauxite reserves valued at more than $500 billion.
It is against this background of sealed wealth that government was able to secure what it touted as an unprecedented barter arrangement to fix Ghana’s infrastructural needs.
Seeking the permission of Parliament in July 2018, the Akufo-Addo administration argued that all the 16 regions will experience remarkable infrastructural growth from the Sinohydro arrangement.
The projects include hospitals, an extension of electricity to rural communities, construction of court and residential buildings for the Judicial Service, landfill sites and industrial parks.
Broken down into phases, the first phase of the project costs $646.6 million, and it begins with the Tamale Interchange project.
Parliament approved projects from lot one to 10 under the first phase.
Lot 1 – Construction of Accra Inner City Roads. A total of 84 kilometres of roads located in Trobu, Anyaa-Sowutoum, Dome-Kwabenya, Adenta and Teshie will be constructed;
Lot 2 – Construction of Kumasi and Mampong Inner City Roads. A total of 100 kilometres of inner-city roads will be constructed in Kumasi and Mampong. In Kumasi, the affected road networks are in Manhyia, Suame, Tafo Pankrono, Asokwa, Kwadaso, Oforikrom, Subin, Nhyiaeso and Bantama;
Lot 3 – Construction of the Tamale Interchange;
Lot 4 – Construction of the PTC Roundabout Interchange, in Sekondi-Takoradi, the first interchange in the western part of our country;
Lot 5 – Dualisation of the Adenta-Dodowa Road. 14 kilometres of the Adenta-Dodowa Road will be dualised so as to reduce congestion, improve road safety, and reduce travel times on the corridor;
Lot 6 – Construction of Sunyani Inner City and Berekum Township Roads. A total of 39 kilometres of roads will be constructed in Sunyani and Berekum Township. In Sunyani, 29 kilometres of inner-city roads will be constructed, whilst Berekum Township will see 10 kilometres of its roads constructed;
Lot 7 – Construction of Prestea Township and Cape Coast Inner City Roads. A total of 32 kilometres of roads will be constructed in Cape Coast and Prestea. In Cape Coast, 22 kilometres of inner-city roads will be constructed, whilst Prestea Township will see 10 kilometres of roads constructed;
Lot 8 – Upgrading of Selected Feeder Roads in Ashanti and Western Regions. Sixty-eight kilometres of feeder roads in the Ashanti and Western North regions will be rehabilitated. The roads that will be rehabilitated are mainly in communities that have bauxite deposits;
Lot 9 – Rehabilitation of Akim Oda-Ofoase Road. This lot involves the rehabilitation of the 38 kilometre Akim Oda-Ofoase road, which is part of the trunk road network, IR3, and passes through several rural communities that connect Akim Oda to Ofoase;
Lot 10 – Construction of the Hohoe-Jasikan-Dodo Pepesu Road of the Eastern Corridor. This will involve the construction of the 66-kilometre section of the Eastern Corridor Road between Hohoe to Jasikan and Dodo Pepesu.
The second phase of the project was expected to come on stream after approval by Parliament.
However, Sinohydro deal has faced criticism by civil society organisations on the grounds that it will be mined beneath the forest posing environmental concerns.
Also, the Minority in Parliament expressed concern that the $2 billion deal between Ghana and Sinohydro will only add up to the debt stock of the country, thereby, burdening the already burdened taxpayer.