Execution of housing project...STX GETS SET ...Offloads equipment at Tema Port (LEAD STORY, OCT 18, 2010)

A SHIP loaded with equipment belonging to the STX Korea Group has arrived at the Tema Port, lending credence to reports that the government’s STX Housing Project is in the process of being executed.
The vessel, Korean RoRo STX Chang-Xing Rose, offloaded 458 assorted items, including tipper trucks, construction equipment, saloon vehicles, excavators, fork-lifts, Hyundai 4X4 vehicles and bulldozers.
The STX Korea Group owns the STX Engineering and Construction firm which has been engaged by the government to construct some 200,000 housing units in the country.
The arrival of the equipment comes ahead of the growing optimism that the legal bottlenecks would be cleared for the government and STX Engineering and Construction of Korea to sign the deal to pave the way for the execution of the project soon.
On September 20, 2010, the ceremony at the Castle, Osu for the Korean firm and the government to sign the deal on the project was rescheduled because some anomalies were detected in the deal, which required that the issues be referred to the Attorney General and Minister for Justice for fine-tuning.
Officials on board the vessel could not explain whether the unloaded cargo was to be used for the STX housing project being undertaken by its local representatives, because the government and its associates were yet to seal the deal for work to begin.
The captain of the vessel, Choe Chargbik, was evasive on the issue when approached by the Daily Graphic, while personnel of local shipping agent, Hull Blyth, were also tight-lipped on the issue.
Although widespread speculations within the port suggested that the items were meant for the STX housing project, officials of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) would also not comment.
The Public Relations Manager of the Tema Port, Mrs Esther Gyebi Donkor, said the Authority might not know the ultimate purpose of the cargo since port officials were not directly involved in the business.
The Deputy Minister for Works and Housing, Dr Hannah Bissiw, when contacted on the telephone, denied suggestions the cargo of the vessel was meant for the housing project that had generated heated controversy in the country.
She said the arrival of the vessel and its cargo were news to her, as neither the ministry nor the government was aware of the vessel’s presence in the country.


Caption: The cargo of the vessel being unloaded at Berth 11 inside the Tema Port.
IX: DELLA RUSSEL OCLOO