President Akufo-Addo (inset) inspecting the interior of one of the buses on display
President Akufo-Addo yesterday, as part of his tour of the Greater Accra Region, commissioned a fleet of 100 brand new buses worth $13 million for the State Transport Corporation (Intercity STC), an investment never seen in the life of the state-owned company for about 20 years.
The financing to augment the fleet of the STC, which was on its knees before the NPP took over in 2017, was done by the Agric Development Bank (ADB).
The Managing Director of ADB, Dr. John Kofi Mensah, during the commissioning, was of the view that President Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) deserve another term of officeto do more.
“I am reliably informed this is the largest fleet of buses purchased by the company in twenty years and I am glad this is happening during the era of no other president than His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, indeed our president and the NPP deserve four more to do more,” he said.
He indicated that the board, management and staff of Intercity STC since 2017 have done well, and when they sought the bank’s assistance, Dr. Mensah said, “We didn’t hesitate when we were approached for assistance by the management to help them augment their fleet of buses.”
“I wish to commend the Office of the President, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance for the waiver of port charges of about GH₵25million on the buses which would have been transferred on to patrons of the STC bus service.”
With management of Intercity STC Coaches Limited having opened more terminals nationwide, the MD of ADB was optimistic they would repay the loan facility even before the three-year period to enable them to access more funds for more buses in the competitive sector they find themselves.
The MD said the ADB since2017 has refocused its direction to positively impact the agricultural sector, saying the bank “has taken its rightful position as the lead bank providing financial intermediation to the country’s agricultural sector.”
“We have been the major partner for key government programmes such as the Planting For Food and Jobs, Rearing For Food and Jobs, Planting For Export and Rural Development, One District One Factory and in this year launched the ambitious GH¢500million Poultry Value Chain initiative,” he said and also added that “the bank also in this year, collaborated with the Outgrower Value Chain Fund (OVCF) and GIRSAL to implement the Rice Value Chain project aimed at reducing the volume of rice imported into the country.”
Dr. Mensah said, “Also in July this year, the bank pre-financed the purchase of 1,300 outboard motors at a cost of GH¢19.8million for the Coastal Development Authority (CODA) and the Ministry for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development.”
President Akufo-Addo, in a brief statement, commended the MD of Intercity STC, Nana Akomea, and his team for their hard work towards bringing back the glory days of the company and urged other state companies and agencies to emulate the example of Intercity STC.
Nana Akomea promised to make STC one of the best state-run transport companies in the West Africa sub-region if not the entire continent.
From there, the President inspected ongoing construction works at the Obetsebi-Lamptey interchange, interacted with Abossey-Okai spare parts dealers and later inspected ongoing construction of the James Town Fishing Harbour and commissioned an AstroTurf facility at the famous Bukom Square and addressed a durbar of chiefs before moving to Alajo areas in the Ayawaso Central Constituency to inspect more projects.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent