Saltpond (C/R), Jan. 15, -The
Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has stressed the need for
Government to reconfigure the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to make commercial oil
drilling at the Saltpond Oil field (SOF) economically viable.
The SOF, which was the first
oil-producing field in the country, is undergoing the processes of
decommissioning of its offshore platform due to high concentration of sulphur
content which had affected global demand for the otherwise highly priced
commodity.
At a stakeholders’ forum held at
Saltpond to solicit views on prudent management and oversight of oil revenues,
Mr Kwame Jantuah, Vice Chairman of PIAC, explained that the continued use of
oil revenues to cater for an idle field did not reflect judicious use of the
resources.
The forum was attended by
representatives of all decentralised Government Departments and Agencies as
well as religious organisations, security agencies, educational institutions,
Employee Associations, traditional leaders, Assembly Members, Non-governmental
Organizations and Civil Society Organisations and the Media.
Mr Jantuah indicated that
although the SOF had been shut down because it was financially not viable, the
GNPC continued to use oil revenue to cater for the cost of maintaining the
offshore production platform ahead of plans to decommission it.
He explained that the idle SOF
was heavily draining the country's oil revenues on the payment of the
emoluments of skeletal staff and the maintenance of the non-functional oil
production facility.
According to him, the
decommissioning of the SOF for lack of activity in the area would protect the
country’s oil revenues from slipping into unproductive revenue expenditures.
Mr Jantuah bemoaned the fact that
notwithstanding the committee' statutory mandate and commitments to ensure
efficient, transparent and accountable management of petroleum revenues and
investments, it lacked the legal wherewithal to prosecute people who
misappropriated funds of Ghana’s oil revenue allocations.
Against this backdrop, he
reiterated the need and support for PIAC to have prosecutorial powers to effectively
and efficiently control the misappropriation of oil revenues.
He recommended that Parliament
empowered the committee and rendered their unqualified support to forestall any
further misappropriation of oil revenue to spark rapid national development.
That, he observed will promote
accountability from people who were not performing their roles.
He assured that the committee
would continue to execute its mandate with high integrity and remained
independent of governmental dictatorship on the oil revenue management.
Mr Jantuah reaffirmed the PIAC’s
determination to engage the media and other key stakeholders to keep track of
oil revenue disbursement as means of promoting social auditing and
accountability.
He urged the media and other
strategic stakeholders to play their meaningful watchdog roles more effectively
to ensure that oil revenues were better protected.
Mr Matthew Tay, the Mfantsiman
Municipal Coordinating Director said public engagement on the oil revenue and
its utilisation was crucial to enabling PIAC execute its mandate.
Mr Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, a
participant, called for enough printing and distribution of hard copies of
PIAC’s annual reports to stockpile various libraries, schools, media houses and
other relevant stakeholders.
That, he underscored was the
surest way to broaden discussion, involvement and strict scrutiny and auditing
of the country's oil revenues to promote transparency and accountability.
GNA
No comments:
Post a Comment