GICEL makes part payment to SSNIT

23/05/2010
Story: Mary Mensah
THE Ghana Industrial Commercial Estates Limited (GICEL) yesterday made a final payment of GH¢ 94,978 to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) in Accra.
This brings to GH¢ 694, 978 total payments so far made to SSNIT by GICEL.
Presenting the cheque at a ceremony, the board chairman of GICEL Mr Kwesi Asemone Edjah thanked the board and management of SSNIT for their support to GICEL during its difficult formative years.
He said the current picture of GICEL shows a vast improvement from what it was 10 years ago when the company was in distress but now it is able to meet all its corporate responsibilities.
The Board Chairman said even though it had been an uphill task GICEL is now firm on the ground and this came about as a result of a new marketing strategy which was adopted in 2007.
He said this new strategy focused on improving the visibility of the estate through effective advertisements and collaboration with the tenants association on the state.
Mr Edjah said this was aimed at attracting manufacturing companies to the estate and improving the marketing of the products and services of the tenants.
Consequently, he said at the end of 2009, 33 per cent of the occupants were into manufacturing as compared to 13 per cent in 2003, adding that GICEL also aggressively pursued tenants who defaulted in their rent payments, repossessed facilities from absentee and absconded tenants and allocated same to new tenants.
“We will also be expanding our operations to the other regions so that SME’s in other communities could also benefit from the Weija experience and be part of the SSNIT informal sector”.
He indicated that GICEL intends to present its future development programmes in the form of strategic plan soon for 2010-2014 and hope they could count on SSNIT’s support.
In 2004, he said SSNIT in conjunction with GICEL took a decision to disentangle itself from the day to day management of the company by appointing a substantive managing director for the GICEL board.
He said by dint of hardwork and strict financial controls and good governance, GICEL Weija had developed into a distinct viable estate which hosts over 400 small and medium scale manufacturing enterprises and small artisans and provides a one stop shop for the businesses to interact and share common ideas.
Receiving the cheque, Dr Frank Odum, Director General of SSNIT thanked GICEL for honouring its promise and said the success of GICEL had brought the informal sector into the SSNIT fold.
He said SSNIT funds were long term investments whose returns it became difficult sometimes to wait for, but this achievement shows that SSNIT was on track.