We will recall workers once we get a contract to support us – Neoplan HR

Human Resource Manager at Neoplan Ghana Limited, Veronica Asante Darko, says the company will recall its redundant workers back should it receive support from government after it announced in a memo, yesterday, it will shut down on Friday January 31, 2020.

The close down, the company said, was due to the lack of contracts and recurring monthly losses.

According to her, the company has laid off over 1,000 of its casual staff due to the losses it made over a period and disclosed that the company wrote to the One District One Factory (1D1F) secretariat for a credit facility to support its operations but has since not received a response.

“We've had to let go of a number of our casual staff due to our issues but we'll recall them once we get a contract. We even wrote to the 1D1F secretariat for a credit facility to support us but we have not received a response from them either. If we received a contract to provide 100 buses right now, we'd be able to do it easily,” she told Citi Breakfast Show.

When asked how much it will take for the company to revamp its operations, Mrs Darko said; “I don't know exactly how much it'll take to keep us running but all we need now is some support from government but once we receive any kind of support from the government, we'll be able to remain in business,” she appealed.

She however adds that currently, Neoplan is working on maintenance and repairs on buses for other companies.

Neoplan Ghana Limited since it’s setup on December 12, 1974 has produced over 4,000 buses for Ghana and surrounding economies but it has been scheduled to shut down on January 31, 2020 according to a memo by the company due to unprofitability and recurring monthly losses as reasons for the shutdown.

The memo dated on January 15, 2020 and signed by the Managing Director of the company, Mr Georges Nassar titled; “Closure of Neoplan (Ghana) Limited”: “Management regretfully informs you that Neoplan (Ghana) Limited will be closing down its branches on 31st January 2020.”

“This is due to lack of contracts and recurring monthly losses incurred. As a result, all employment contracts with the company will be terminated as of the said date until further notice,” the memo added.

The company said the last time it was given a government contract was in 2002, which ended in 2010 and saw the production of 450 DAF/VDL buses for the Metro Mass Transit Limited.