The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Hon. Alban Sumana Bagbin has debunked reports that the STX Housing project is collapsing as the STX Korean partners are on the verge of pulling out of the deal. The Daily Guide in its Monday, July 4, 2011 edition reported that its source within the STX Engineering and Construction Ghana Limited has revealed that “the Koreans are about leaving the country, bringing the contract to an abrupt end.” The publication said the Korean partners are “pulling out of the deal because it is persistently frustrated by attempts by the government to allegedly make the Koreans ‘irrelevant’ in the process.” But Hon. Alban Bagbin told Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday that the paper could have done a better job by crosschecking the veracity of the information before publishing it. He said “I can confirm that government is committed and still committed to implementing the STX Housing Project. The commitment is unwavering, total and absolute.” Hon. Bagbin explained that the government is dealing with the STX Engineering and Construction Ghana Ltd led my Mr. B.K. Asamoah and not individuals. He said “there is no evidence anywhere that government has individuals in the company and dealing with those individuals and not with the company.” He stated that information from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning indicates that everything is on course for the commencement of the project. He gave the assurance that government is “committed to starting the land preparations this month (July).” He said his outfit has had a series of meetings with the Koreans and there were no indications of the Koreans’ desire to withdraw from the project as is being reported by the newspaper. He said even though there was a court case between Mr. B.K. Asamoah and the Koreans over a decision to dismiss him (Mr. Asamoah) from his post as the Director of the Company, the matter has been resolved. “We have intervened. We held a number of mediation meetings and we resolved the matter. None has come to me again with any complaints and to the best of my knowledge everything is on course. “Both parties stated at the end of the mediation meeting that they were committed to working together and they were committed to implementing the project on schedule,” Mr Bagbin said, adding “we cannot be stopped by the internal bickering of the parties.” He further debunked a claim by the newspaper that an insurance of $300 million has been paid even though the money for the project is not yet available, insisting the “money for the project is available.” He said the money is “coming by installments according to the Suppliers Credit Agreement. The first installment will contain the insurance. It’s not like Ghana government is taking money from anywhere to pay for the insurance. The first installment contains part of the insurance that will be paid.” He said the publication is part of an orchestration by some elements to oppose the implementation of the STX Housing Project but he believes that Ghanaians will see the benefits of this project and many others that the government is working at the right time. Ghanaians must be kept in the loop But the New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Bantama in the Ashanti Region, Cecilia Obeng Dapaah who is the ranking member and the minority spokesperson on Water Resources, Works and Housing has stated that the government must come out clearly to explain the reason why the project has failed to take off after the scheduled date for the project to begin passed without any hint of when it will start. She said Ghanaians deserve to be told exactly what is happening and she will therefore be seeking answers on the floor of parliament on Tuesday. Asked whether she was not unnecessarily playing politics with the issue, Hon Dapaah stated that “as a minister I think he (Hon Bagbin) should appreciate the concerns of Ghanaians. Nobody is doing this out of mischief. I believe every Ghanaian has a right to know, more importantly when we have parted with a sovereign guarantee for a project because it’s the totality of Ghanaians that are being committed to this deal.” Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/myjoyonline.com/Ghana