DIC to monitor divested companies

The Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) has initiated plans to monitor the performance of divested companies to ensure that they follow the business plans used in the bidding process.

Mr Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) announced this at a meeting of the Tema District Council of Labour (TDCL) on Thursday said the committee has recognised that it had not paid attention to the monitoring of divested companies.

He said investors who bid to acquire divested companies show their business plans, including how they would expand to increase employment as well as improve the companies.

Mr Adu-Amankwah, who is also a member of DIC said if the monitoring had been carried out at the PSC Tema Shipyard and Dry-dock, "we would have been aware of the deterioration going on there."

"Based on these facts, we could advise the government to offer the remaining 40 per cent shares to another investor."

He said there is the need to encourage Ghanaians to invest in some of these divested companies, adding, "We are concerned that divestiture is not carried out simply as an ideology."

On incomes, he said, President John Agyekum Kufuor once mentioned that there should be discussions on the incomes, adding, "We are preparing for the debate on incomes in the public sector."

Mr Adu-Amankwah said the TUC in the debate would look at the range of benefits for senior officers, which the lower workers do not enjoy and pointed out that all the benefits for the top men should be quantified.

Mr Adu-Amankwah said there is the need to establish the ratio between those at the top and below to bring about equity, adding "all of us go to the same market, so a minimum wage to help the worker survive is what is needed."

However, to make resources available for the government to discharge its duties, workers need to increase their output to bring in more revenue, stressing that increases in incomes should relate to productivity.

Mr Adu-Amankwah said there is the need for the government to plug all loopholes that drain the scarce revenue and widen the tax net instead of depending on taxes from workers alone.

There is also the need to minimise corruption in both public and private sectors that dissipate resources, he said.

He briefed the workers about how the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) is being re-organised, and criticised the privatisation of water.

Mr Baba Ali, Secretary of TDCL gave workers the assurance that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has responded to their petition about tax on overtime and bonus for workers.