The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) says it has started reviewing privatised public enterprises that have failed to live up to expectation.
The Director-General of the BPE, Mr. Alex Okoh, said this when members of the Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation visited the bureau, according to a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday by the Head of Public Communications, Chukwuma Nwokoh.
Okoh said that the bureau had started a thorough review of the non-performing enterprises in order to ascertain the issues affecting their performances.
He stated that the BPE with its current initiatives was poised to positively impact on the economy in areas of power generation and supply, improvement in overall infrastructure, employment creation, food security and human capital development.
Okoh added that the role of the bureau was to assist in restructuring the public sector enterprises and services in a manner that would create a new synergy between a leaner and more efficient government, and a revitalised, efficient and service-oriented private sector.
Explaining that the paucity of funds had caused a serious setback to the attainment of some of the objectives of the BPE, Okoh said, “The treasury of the Federal Government is becoming leaner in view of competing demands and dwindling government revenues.”
Speaking during the visit, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, said that the committee had been mandated by the Senate to institute an inquiry into the power sector.
Murray-Bruce, however, said in trying to address the challenges of the power sector, efforts must be made not to scare foreign investors.
He said, “We have been mandated to hold a public hearing on the power sector. We are mindful of foreign investors and we are wary of scaring away foreign investors. However, we need to fix it.” – Punch.
