Opinions of Wednesday, 4 August 2010

Columnist: Junior, Prince Aidoo

GIDC And Germany To Contest Stx Korea

AND PROVIDE A BETTER AND TRANSPARENT DEAL ON THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROPOSAL.


Open letter to:

The President of Ghana.
The members of parliament.
The Media.
The Minster for Roads and housing (Hon. Alan Bagbin).
The general public.


Ladies and gentlemen,
I will like to take this authority on behalf of the Ghana International Development Consortium, (GIDC), which has its base in Germany, to inform our nationals that, we have taken notice of the current political debate going on between the government of Ghana and the STX Korea saga. The news reaching our outfit is heart breaking.

I say therefore that, as a nation, just as the strength of many of our progressive professionals in and outside Ghana lies in a unified policy and action for progress and development in Ghana, so lay the strength of the enemy in our disunity. The political discontent, the tribal malfeasances, disunity, hatred, and our inability to provide a formidable and lasting solutions to our problems as a nation, is evidence to this. And—“Unless we meet this obvious and very powerful threat with a unified front, based upon a common national development policy, the strategy of our enemy, will be to pick us off and destroy us one by one”.

Ladies and gentlemen, as Ghanaian expatriates in the Diaspora, the cry of our people and the efforts being taken by the government to ensure that the good people of Ghana are provided with an affordable housing has been head.

As a nation, we should be aware that, the success of any development project, is contingent on the involvement, compromises and the active roles of major actors. The average elite in the Diaspora discerns a significant role for the socio-economic development in the country. It is suggested that the role of some elite in socio-economic growth cannot be minimized. It is historically known that many transformational elite played an important role in the development of modern industrial societies. But the story in Ghana seem to be different.
Most leaders of the new generation however, have failed to recognised the toil of their ancestors, and as such, have lost the scope of self-reliance and determination.
The modern Ghanaian elite, essentially a product of colonialism, seems to have been “created” to perform a different task in the Ghanaian societies. Most of the elite, educated within the European value system and well anchored in western ideals, saw their mission rather differently. The type of education in our Ghanaian universities has a story of its own to tell. The out come of their education is what we have been witnessing in Ghana today. Today the tragedy of the Ghanaian elite in contemporary times is how their personal interests can supersede the national interests. Such self-interests can be seen happening in the Ghanaian political arena. We are also aware that the average Ghanaian, has his/her country at heart, but the country has denied most them their human rights. They have been denied the right to participate in any development ventures in Ghana. Their individual potentials are left to decay.

The question is! why has the Ghanaian expatriate in the Diaspora abandoned this important role, when it comes to the development of Ghana? Who is to ensure that the wisdom and knowledge of a Ghanaian expatriate in the Diaspora, is not underestimated, when it comes to the identification of minor problems facing the country?

Ladies and gentlemen, as in therapy, it is said! the first step towards recovery of a patient is to diagnose the disease; the second is summoning a will power to heal. As a consortium, to our understanding, a change can be achieved through concerted approach. The wisdom of the Ghanaian expatriate will be inevitable in the process. I am hereby informing his Excellency President John Atta Mills that, his vision for a “Better Ghana agenda” will go a long way in our history, when the wisdom of most of his professionals in the Diaspora are embodied in his vision.

I am hereby ensuring our nation that, the GIDC consortium in Germany in agreement with most well-known German real estate developers, are ready to contest the STX Korea and provide the nation with a better and transparent alternative. An official letter will be sent to the office of president by latest middle of August this year. After that, the minister of roads and housing, hon. Alan Bagbin and other stakeholders will be invited to Germany to take part in the decision process. Afterwards, the German and Ghanaian expatriates will visit Ghana to have a visibility study and give the nation their recommendation.

It is our hope that this action of ours, will help the nation to take a second look at the deal before coming into any agreement with any of the providers.

Ladies and gentlemen, members of the media, please kindly direct all your queries to the coordinator for swift response. Thank you for listening.

Evangelist Prince Aidoo Junior.
(B.A., M.A. Dipl., Des.,)
CEO of ACL Logistics International.
CEO of the Ghana International Development Consortium.
gdcouncil@yahoo.com
Tel.: 0049-211-3849790