The Director-General of SSNIT, Dr Frank Odoom, has pledged the commitment of the Trust to ensure that all its investments yield the right returns to sustain the pension scheme.
Consequently, he said management has undertaken a thorough assessment of all its investments and was recapitalising those that have positive prospects and shedding off its stake, partly or wholly in those that are not viable.
In an interview with the Graphic Business, Dr Odoom mentioned Merchant Bank and the Intercity STC transport as some of the companies the Trust was shedding off its stake.
He said the company has also moved away completely from constructing houses and flats on its own for rental because of the challenges that the Trust faced with the Dansoman and Sakumono where tenants refused to pay realistic rent.
According to him, in spite of the efforts made to revive some of the companies, there seem to be no hope in sight.
He however stated that �these investments which have not yielded any positive results are not threatening the sustainability of the scheme�, adding that �We have some very positive investments which are expected to yield returns�.
Presently the Trust has invested in three major sectors of the economy namely; housing; energy and manufacturing
SSNIT has set up a company, the Tema Cenit Thermal Power Project (TCTPP) to carry out its energy project meant to augment power supply to the national electricity grid. This a project meant to undertake electric power generation by a wholly owned subsidiary of Cenit Investment Limited (CIL) an investment company incorporated by SSNIT.
The plant which has started a test-run of its 126 megawatts power generation will be fed into the national grid by October, according to the the Director- General.
With the proximity of the Cenit plant to a similar project owned by the Volta River Authority (VRA) power enclave at Tema. Against this background, there is a possibility of harnessing the exhaust heat of both plants to turn a steam turbine to produce an additional 126 megawatts of power.
SSNIT has formed a joint venture company with Fujian Overseas Chinese Industrial Group Corporation under the name Sentuo to develop a steel mill on the premises of then Wahome Steel Limited. The project is expected to produce 250,000 tonnes of steel rods of various sizes per annum under first phase.
According the Director-General, phase II will produce additional output of 350,000 tonnes per annum of steel bar, angle iron and steel pipes among others.
Major modifications have been done to the buildings of former Wahome and testing inauguration of the project was done in January.
In the area of housing, the Switchback Road Development project will be jointly undertaken with other real estate developers. This according to the DG is being done through a joint venture agreement with Messrs Life Forms and Trassaco Estates Development Company Limited.
The proposed site of 16.88 acres is expected to accommodate a mixture of high class residential and commercial design and urban landscape in a self-contained neighbourhood with retail centers, community facilities and transportation links.
About 500 units of high class residential apartments of various sizes, 50,000 square meters of office space and 250-room three start hotel and retail shops with complimentary facilities would be built.
Thw Dunkona Housing Project will now be undertaken after a protracted court case involving encroachments on the land. The land has now been allocated to various developers for the development of social facilities such as churches and schools.
The Trust has also entered into a joint-venture with a South African company, Delico Investment to develop 26,800 square meter shopping mall along the main Winneba Road. There is also another project at Klagon called Meridian Garden and Eagles Place. A two to three bedroom apartment is expected to be developed.
Dr Odoom made it clear that the Trust would no longer do social housing because of the heavy cost involved and the drain on the Trust. He said the investments are meant to enhance the partial income replacement of pensioners whose annual absolute growth is more than 7,000.
Source: Daily Guide
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