A delegation from the Neoplan Ghana Limited has revealed that the constant importation of buses after the end of the former president John Agyekum Kufuor’s led administration is a contributing factor to their imminent closure.
According to them, after 2010, the government of Ghana started buying buses from India, China and Belgium which is a cause of their woes.
Speaking on behalf of the delegation in an interview on Happy98.9FM’s Happy Morning Show, Chief Accountant of the Accra branch of Neoplan Ghana, Samuel Egan revealed that. “2010 was the last time we built buses for the country. The government ceased giving us contracts after 2010. They rather started buying cars from India and Belgium.”
On his authority, the last batch of buses built by the state owned company was for a contract for 450 VDL buses made by former president Kufuor’s administration. He said, “The last batch of buses we built started in 2000 during president Kufuor’s administration. He asked us to build 450 VDL buses for the metro mass. We finished production in July 2010 and have not done any work since then.”
The delegation appealed to the government to resume giving them contracts and stop importing cars from Belgium, China and India. “We want successive governments to continue in the footsteps of former president Kufuor’s administration and keep giving us contracts,” he stated.
Neoplan Ghana Limited, one of the country’s surviving coach manufacturing businesses in the 1970s, has announced a total shutdown on Friday, January 31, 2020 because it is no longer viable.
The company which has the Ghana government as the largest shareholder with a 55% stake, circulated a memo to all staff of the company in Accra and Kumasi announcing the closure of the company, which was established on December 12, 1974, cites the lack of contracts and recurring monthly losses as reasons for the shutdown.
By: Joel Sanco
