VALCO Files For Arbitration Against Govt And VRA

The Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO) has filed for arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris against both the Volta River Authority and the Ghanaian government. This follows VALCO’s objection to the reduction in its power consumption by the VRA for 2003. The news item was carried on the website of Kaiser Aluminium, which owns 90% of VALCO.

VALCO has objected to the 2003 allocation and to a previous power curtailment and intends to seek declaratory relief and the recovery of monetary damages in respect of the curtailment.

A meeting scheduled between VALCO and the government of Ghana on January 6, this year broke down. A statement issued by the government of Ghana said VALCO is refusing to pay realistic wages for power. It said VALCO pays 1.1 cents per KW/h of power while the ordinary Ghanaian pays 7.8 cents per KW/h.