GT warns saboteur workers

The Board of the Ghana Telecom has disclosed that cables worth thousands of dollars which have been earmarked for a very important project have vanished in the tertiary building at the headquarters.

The Board has therefore warned workers who will be found culpable that they will not only be handed over to the police for prosecution, but will face outright dismissal from GT.

Making this disclosure at the tenth annual retirees' awards ceremony, the Board Chairman, Nana Antwi Boasiako, stated that any worker caught will lose all the benefits that they would otherwise have been entitled to.

He further decried the situation were some unscrupulous people have been stealing GT fibre and copper cables. He noted that these same people turn around and complain of poor services from GT.

Another security concern that was raised at the function was the issue of unauthorised people loitering in the premises of GT facilities. To this effect, Management has given directives that access to restricted areas be denied all unauthorised people.

Staff have been entreated to be vigilant in order to identify and flush out infiltrators. Security cameras will also be installed at sensitive places to beef up security.

However, according to the Board Chairman, despite these challenges the Board and Management have worked around the clock to enable the company undergo a great deal of structural and organisational changes.

Nana Antwi Boasiako, said the Board for instance facilitated the procurement of a bond facility of $200million from Iroko Securities of the UK. This, he said was done to refinance the debts of the company, noting, "This way, some capital could be freed to enable the company embark upon its roll out and expansion work in both the mobile and fixed networks."

He informed the gathering that some of GT's support units have become very proactive and are looking for various avenues to generate revenue to support the company's operations.

He disclosed that the Call Centre has almost clinched a deal to provide customer services to one of the utility companies in the country. "Our IT department has also drawn up a comprehensive plan in which programmes and web related services will be provided to corporate bodies for a fee," he added.

Still on GT's preparedness to give customers value for their money, Dickson Oduro-Nyaning, Chief Executive Officer, GT, disclosed that Management has put very pragmatic measures in place with the view to consolidating the successes chalked in the previous year.

He said this year, GT has plans to increase the customer base for their broadband internet service, OneTouch service and the fixed network service. He said Management has decided to upgrade many of the Care4U centres in the country. Additionally, ultra modern Care4U centres will be constructed in East Legon, Kasoa, Dzorwulu, Madina, Weija and Sunyani.

Mr Oduro-Nyaning pointed out that since the success of any business organisation depends to a large extent on its human resource base, Management will retrain the existing workforce with the requisite skills to handle new equipment and technologies to meet the challenge ahead.

Additionally, the GT University College will be provided with a 650 capacity lecture hall to facilitate training in telecommunication course and other related fields of study.

By slarge