STX partners reach accord

Front Page: Daily Graphic, November 16, 2011.
Story: Albert K. Salia
PARTIES in the legal tussle over who should lead the construction of the government’s STX Housing Project have drawn up terms of settlement for the amicable resolution of the impasse, which has stalled the commencement of the project.
If approved by the parties, the terms of settlement are expected to form the basis of judgement of the Accra Commercial Court, which is hearing the case.
The court, presided over by Mrs Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, therefore, adjourned proceedings to November 24, 2011 for the terms of settlement to be filed by the parties.
Mr Carl Adongo, counsel for G.K.A. Airports Company Limited, plaintiff in the action, told the court at its sitting yesterday that proposals in the form of terms of agreement had been drawn up for consideration by the court.
He said if agreed by parties in the case, the document would be signed by all the stakeholders and filed for consideration by the court before the next adjourned date.
Although the details of the terms of settlement were not made known, it was gathered that the plaintiff had agreed to pay off all expenses by the Korean partners in the STX deal.
G.K.A. Airports, it was learnt, would also pay off any equity held by the Korean partners, and thereby disengage them from the project.
The suit, filed by G.K.A. Airports Company Limited through its CEO, Bernard Kwabena Asamoah, the man credited for introducing the STX housing project to the government, wanted the court to determine the rightful partner to execute the project.
The plaintiff also sought to sack the Korean partners from the entire project but the Koreans vowed to resist any attempt to forcibly remove them.
The Koreans were the first to go to court over who owns the company when they sued Mr Asamoah, the Registrar-General and others for allegedly diluting the company’s shares to GKA Airport’s advantage, but the Fast Track High Court, presided over by Justice N.M.C. Abodakpi, adjourned proceedings sine die because the processes to get the case heard were not completed.
Although the President, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, cut the sod in January, 2011 for the commencement of the project, boardroom wrangling between the Koreans and their Ghanaian partners has stalled the construction of 200,000 housing units in the country at a total cost of $10 billion, starting with 30,000 houses for the security services.