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In This Issue...Links to the News:  March 11, 2016

Trouble brews in Ghana’s oil communities
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh

Accra, Aug 27, Ghanadot - Chances that Ghana could start pouring oil in commercial quantities by early 2010 gets brighter by the day but brewing dissatisfaction among local people in the oil communities on their alleged exclusion from the exploration activities is fast developing a simmering tension in that area.

Recent to sound the alarm bells of a possible Niger delta scenario should the local people be sidelined in the exploration activities, is a group calling itself the National Association of Nzema students (NANS)who say there is a deliberate attempt by the oil companies to exclude the indigenes of the oil communities from participating in the oil business.

They have thus petitioned the President of the Republic of Ghana H.E John Atta Mills to intervene to forestall disaffection among the local people and possibly avert a Niger delta experience in the oil region when it starts producing oil somewhere next year.

According to the group, none of the indigenes of the areas where the oil fields are located have as yet had any employment with the oil companies.

“The youth are being marginalized because we see people been taken and trained abroad from other parts of the country” pious Kofi Amelema leader of the group alleged in an interview on a local radio station in Accra yesterday.

Contrary to these assertions, the Deputy Minister of Energy and Member of Parliament for Ellembelle, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah said the timing for such agitations were a little too early as the government of Ghana was putting finishing touches to a comprehensive local content policy which would adequately address of the concerns of the local people in communities in and around the oil fields

“I think that it’s a little too early to be very alarmists because we are only in phase one of the exploration”

he emphasized that is was one of governments priority areas and commitments to invest revenue accrued from the oil in critical sectors of education, health, infrastructure, rural development, facilitate technical education and research

“More importantly, part of the oil money will be used to help improve social and physical infrastructure of the local communities in the catchments areas and to institute a future generation fund” he stated.

Hon. Armah Kofi Buah explained that a lot of services related industries would be springing during the exploration periods and what is really important is for the country to have a game plan.

“the oil companies are businessmen who are in the country to make money[let me put it quit frankly ] and it is up to government and communities to make sure that we have a comprehensive local content policy and that is exactly what the minister of energy has been up to, to make sure that a comprehensive local content policy that covers arrears such as services ,hiring of people, local contracts, goods and services and also set up clear guidelines to the oil companies as to how many Ghanaians we expect to be in training positions within a time period.” he said.

What is really important for the youth in all parts of the country especially in the oil catchments areas to upgrade skills to take advantage of the huge opportunities that the oil finds brings.

The Chronicle gathered that these agitations stem from the fact that some fourteen young Ghanaian graduate engineers early this year, obtained sponsorships from Tullow Oil Ghana to study in various disciplines in oil and gas exploration and production abroad as part of the company’s bid to develop and strengthen local capacity in its upstream industry operations;but none of these included came from the oil communities.

Ghana's jubilee field is one of West Africa's biggest oil strikes in recent years and likely containing recoverable reserves of at least 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent and expected to rake in $1 billion a year in revenue by the end of next year, according the International Monetary Fund estimates.

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