Government has ruled out any move to sell its shares in Metro Mass Transport Limited (MMT) and Inter-City STC.
The assertions follows calls for government to cede its shares if the two are to run efficiently.
The two over the years have faced some level of operational and financial challenges.
On Monday, January, 2015 workers at the Metro Mass Transit company for example begun a nationwide indefinite strike.
The workers were demanding the dismissal of the Board Chair, Osabarima Ansah Sasraku III and Deputy Managing Director, John Awuku Dzuazah of the company.
They are accused the two of their involvement in the disappearance of the 12 of the company’s buses and that their continuous stay in office will collapse the company.
Industry players opine decoupling government from the company will better serve it, if it is, to succeed in future.
[contextly_sidebar id=”XcJ1ooAZtxMLaPl8dri4ejp6Cs7n1gDR”]MMT and Inter-City STC are being run on a Public Private Partnership (PPP), with government owning some significant shares in two companies.
Government has 45% in MMT with the remaining 55% being held by private investors including National investment bank (NIB), State Insurance Company (SIC), Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), SSNIT, GOIL and Prudential Bank.
While 80 percent of Inter-City STC is owned by the Social Security & National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and the remaining by government of Ghana.
Deputy Minister of transport Joyce Mungtari responding to calls for government to give up the shares said ‘government is still obliged as a responsibility to its citizens to run some social transportation services.
We are in only two companies and when it comes to providing services to the vulnerable, school children, the aged it will be very difficult for government to ask private companies to provide such social interventions.
Government introduced the MMT to actually beef up services being provided by STC.’ She said.
By: Vivian Kai Mensah/citifmonline.cm/Ghana