|
Ghana’s Oil
‘Hot Spot’ must proceed with caution- ISODEC/ Oxfam
Accra, Feb. 18, Ghanadot/GNA – Two
organisations on Wednesday called for the right institutions
and transparent policies to be put in place before the
production of Ghana’s oil begins.
The Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) and Oxfam
America and Ghana, in a press release signed by Ruby
Kisseidu, a campaigner for ISODEC and Oxfam cautioned that
there was the need for the country to make significant
changes to support clear, accountable and efficient
development of the oil industry.
It said Ghana’s recent discovery of oil had generated
enormous interest in the country’s oil production potential
but Ghana should bear in mind that the exploitation of
natural resources, historically, in Africa had far too often
led to increase poverty and conflict, a phenomenon often
referred to as “resource course.”
“Oil boom in many countries had bred corruption,
underdevelopment, social conflict and environmental damage”.
“There is a need for transparent revenues payment practices,
open and competitive contract bidding, active monitoring and
participation by civil society”.
It noted that the importance of the government of Ghana in
enacting a moratorium on signing new licenses to enable them
to organize an open bidding round and allowing the country’s
legal and institutional framework to “catch up” to the pace
of oil development.
It said the International Monetary Fund had predicted that
government revenues from oil and gas could reach a
cumulative 20 billion US dollars over production period of
2012 to 2030 in the Jubilee field alone.
ISODEC and Oxfam therefore urged Ghana that while some
progress had been made in the Extractive Industry
Transparency Initiative (EITI) the government should fully
be committed to extend that work to the petroleum sector.
GNA
|
