PSC on the verge of collapse?.

Tema (Greater Accra) 18 June ’99

Workers of PSC Tema Shipyard on Wednesday warned that the company could "collapse any moment from now if steps are not taken to acquire a new dewatering pump for the dry-dock".

They said one of such pumps, the main heart of the dry-dock, broke down 20 years ago. The only surviving one, said to be 35 years old is showing signs of depreciation and now takes eight hours to empty the dry-dock".

A statement issued by the workers said government, which owns 40 per cent shares should take bold initiatives to compel the Business Focus Group (BFG) of Malaysia, which manages the company, to acquire a new dewatering pump by the year 2000. The Malaysians have 60 percent shares.

It said the pump estimated at about one million dollars could take about one year for the manufacturer to design, build and install. They warned, "if the existing one breaks down, 70 per cent of the workforce will have to be laid-off".

The statement said about three years ago, the then management of the shipyard contracted Messrs. Wier Pump Limited of Scotland, to manufacture and install one dewatering pump on a turnkey basis at a cost of 900,000 dollars.

The company paid a 20 per cent deposit towards the pump which would have taken one year to complete but after the Malaysians took over in 1997, the deposit was withdrawn to end the dream of securing a new pump.

If the current pump goes off, it will be difficult to raise the requisite fund for the manufacture of the pump but the current management is making no effort to place an order for a second pump to guarantee continuous operations and job security.

According to the workers, PSC's 60 per cent shares amounted to 4.2 million dollars but by the payment arrangement, the PSC paid 2.1 million dollars to the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC). The balance was to be spread over a period of three years at 700,000 dollars per year.

They said a publication in December 1997, which alleged that the BFG had injected more than five million dollars to bring in modern equipment, was false.

The statement said PSC inherited a stock of materials of over one billion cedis but this has been exhausted without replacement.

The workers asked that the materials should be accounted for since they did not form part of the 60 per cent shares acquired by PSC.

GRi../