Mr George Abradu-Otto, the Managing Director of Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) Limited, has said dealing with foreigners does not mean the company would be taken over by them.
He said at a press conference in Accra that they cannot just allow foreigners to take over the company and its operations, adding that, although they want to modernize their offices in the 10 regions and make them visible and introduce state of the Art machinery, does not mean they are leaving it in the hands of foreigners.
“Foreigners rather come to monitor the company and its operations and make proposals that can help develop the company. All we want to do with them is a strategic partnership and not to leave the company in their hands”, he added.
Mr Abradu-Otto noted that he does not take a huge salary but rather the lowest salary amongst the board members of the company.
“Even last year, I was not paid my salary for five months because notification from Bank officials indicated that they needed to do clearance on amounts paid to other bodies”, he said.
He also said foreigners had taken advantage of the fact that the Minerals Commission gave some few foreigners the right to purchase directly from small scale miners, adding that, the PMMC is the right channel to buy and ship minerals.
“Because of this, it has become difficult for us to determine which of the foreigners had been given permission by the minerals commission and those who have not”, he added.
The Managing Director also said no staff of the company had been sacked, adding that, they were leaving because their contract had ended.
“I even insisted that those workers be maintained or no contract would be signed anymore”, he added.
Brigadier General Charles Richter-Addo, Board Chairman, PMMC said when it comes to the gold refining project, Mr Ramazan Kafarou and PMMC has partnered with Geo Professional Services Limited but are waiting for approval by the Attorney General to set the ball rolling.
He said one problem the board is facing is that the refinery of minerals is still at the foundation level because of minor obstacles, adding that, they need to manage it so that they do not incur additional and unnecessary judgment debts.
Brig-Gen. Richter-Addo said the company is indulging in strategic partnership for a Diamond Cutting and Polishing Plant to make it more viable.
“We cannot continue to pay the Indians with foreign currency when they are not adding value to the business”, he added.
He also noted that the company is planning to expand the jewelry manufacturing and sale section to add value to operations within the company.
He said “we are also working closely with sector the Ministry and the Minerals Commission to streamline the small scale gold trading industry”.
Mr Edmund Hassan, Member of Board, PMMC said there is a need to pay much attention to the development of PMMC because the company alone can earn huge sum of money for the development of the nation.
“Although Ghana as a country produces about 100 tons of minerals, we are not able to buy even half of what the small scale miners produce”, he added.
