Minister orders salary of MD stopped

The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mahami Salifu on Thursday ordered that the salary of Alhaji Issahaku Salia, Managing Director of Pwalugu Stone Quarry and Member of Parliament for Wa East be stopped with immediate effect.

He said Alhaji Salia as an MP has a lot of assignment on his hands and yet doubled as Managing Director of the quarry, a position he should have relinquished eight years ago when he entered parliament.

Mr Salifu made the order when he visited the quarry to acquaint himself with its problems.

The Minister described the financial situation of the company as not the best, saying as Alhaji Salia continues to draw his salary for no work done and his bungalow attracts utility bills, it was no wonder the quarry was running at a loss.

Mr Salifu dismissed claims that the quarry was a private company, saying it was established with shares from the SSB Bank and the defunct Upper East Regional Development Corporation and the Bank for Housing and Construction.

The Regional Minister said the quarry was doing a good job for the Northern sector and everything should be done to revamp it.

He advised the management to rehabilitate the environment and take good care of the community.

The acting Managing Director, Mr Iddrisu Yeldzie, said the company was finding things difficult because SSB the only surviving shareholder was selling its shares out.

He said the company has never been able to declare dividend since its inception.

However, it has insured its workers to the tune of 83 million cedis, established a community development fund, and has paid royalties to the government through the stool land administration.

The Administrative Manager, Mr Freeman Dramani, said the quarry has stone deposit that will last 233 years.

It has a work force of 56 workers with 90 per cent of them from the community but its machinery is obsolete with high fuel and power consumption rate.