Ghana, Dutch Conclude Pact On Bus Chassis

The Ghanaian and Dutch governments have concluded an agreement for the delivery of 150 DAF bus chassis to Ghana for assembling to augment the fleet of buses for mass transport in the country.

This will bring to 350 the number of DAF bus chassis that have been imported into the country for assembling and distribution to various parts of the country to alleviate the acute transportation problem facing the people.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mechanical Lloyd Company, the main distributors of DAF buses, Mr Yaw Manu Sarpong, announced this in a report at the annual general meeting of the company in Accra.

Mr Sarpong, whose report was read on his behalf by Mr. C.B.K. Zwennes, a director of the company, said the concessionary financing had been in place since May, this year, for the assembling of the buses to start soon.

Mr Sarpong explained that 75 chassis had been programmed for delivery this year while another consignment of 75 would follow next year.

He said the company, apart from engaging in the distribution and marketing of motor vehicles and farm machinery, had also diversified into building and acquiring properties for rental.

He said the income from the rental contributed ¢1.46 billion to the profit for the year 2005.

Mr Sarpong said the BMW vehicles achieved 103 per cent of its budget and continued to maintain the lead in the luxury car segment.

He advised ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) not to hide behind the new procurement law to purchase cheap products that were not durable .

Mr Sarpong explained that the guiding principle ought to be to procure durable products and not cheap ones.

The Managing Director of Mechanical Lloyd, Mr Terence Ronald Darko, said the company in 2005 posted a net profit after tax of ¢7.9 billion as against a net profit of ¢ 7.6 billion for 2004, representing a rise of 43.16 per cent.

He said ¢6 billion of the profit had been set aside to be ploughed back into the company, while ¢2 billion was disbursed as dividend to shareholders.

He urged commercial banks to ensure that their lending rates reflected the economic realities, which was the growing of the economy towards the realisation of middle-income status within 10 years..