Institute interim management committee --Workers

Accra (Greater Accra), 17 March '99 -- Workers of the Automative and Technical Services Limited (ATS) yesterday called on the government to institute an Interim Management Committee to run the company. The IMC should not include any of the current management team under Mr E. Nanka-Bruce, Managing Director, whose team has been accused of mal-administration and financial mismanagement. At a press briefing held on Tuesday, Mr Frank Dean Adjebeng, Personnel Manager, alleged that 34 million cedis withdrawn from the company's account on the authority of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to pay workers has not been used for that purpose. The whereabouts of another 38 million cedis deposited by the Ghana Commercial Bank for the repairs of its vans are not known. One of the vans with registration number GV 3153 C is parked at the Kwame Nkrumah Avenue branch of the company and the others at its Ringway Workshop. The vans should have been repaired and delivered by November, last year. Mr Adjebeng alleged that management owed workers salary arrears from March to June, 1998 and February 1999. He said workers contribution to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) was last paid in December 1997. He further alleged that Income Tax remittances are not being paid to government coffers, dud cheques were presented to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and as a result of management's conduct "there is no money to run the company". Mr Adjebeng said when the workers seized seven million cedis being proceeds for jobs executed, they were able to generate about 26 million cedis within 10 days out of which part of outstanding electricity bills were defrayed. He rejected accusations that the company's economic slump is as a result of "strained relations between the workers and management," and said "it is the sum total of people in responsible positions' inability to present the truth for the right decision to be taken." The company has the potential to "re-instate itself as the 'auto-leader' in the country." Since December 1997, workers and management relations had been strained as a result of accusations and counter accusations. Attempts to get the management to comment on the allegations were unsuccessful as none of them was available.