A United States-based company has duped the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) of over $109 million, the 2012 Auditor General’s report has revealed.
The company, known as the American Tanker and Vessel Company, was contracted by BOST in 2006 to construct two pipelines but has since failed to fulfil their part of the contract despite several diplomatic efforts.
According to the acting Managing Director of BOST, Kwame Awuah-Darko, the situation has had a negative toll on the operations of BOST as it had now incurred losses.
“There is an acknowledgement of the non-performance under the contract. There is a last-ditch diplomatic effort that started at the end of last year, if that doesn’t yield any results then we have no choice than to go down the legal route,” he told the Public Accounts Committee Monday, May 30.
“…This is something that is very painful. That single transaction has almost made BOST unprofitable… If you look at our account, our auditor will tell you last year alone we had to take over GHS180 million in unrealised forex losses because, obviously, it is a dollar-denominated facility and you have to make sure that you have made provision to cover that obligation and the infrastructure has not been delivered, so we are unable to utilise that infrastructure and pay back the loan. It is the single most difficult challenge that I faced when I went to BOST,” Mr Awuah-Darko said.
He told Class News’ parliamentary correspondent, Ekow Annan, that a court action would be brought against the US company to compel them to fulfil their part of the bargain.
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