Don't rush into oil production -Youth urge government

Kwabena Amankwah

A section of the youth has called on government not to rush into oil production until the required regulatory and fiscal frameworks have been put in place.

This, they believe, will not only ensure adequate protection of the interest of the nation, but will also position the nation well to deal with the multi-faceted ills that come with oil production.

Speaker after speaker at a youth forum on oil and gas organized by Youth for Action Ghana (YfAG) at Takoradi on Thursday expressed the fear that any attempt to rush into the venture would produce regrettable consequences for the nation.

Organized under the theme, “The Roles and Responsibilities of Youth in the Current Oil/Gas Policy Formulation Process in Ghana”, with support from Oxfam America and WACAM, the forum was attended by over 100 youth drawn from student groups, civil society organizations, community and ethnic based groups, faith-based associations and the media.

Executive Director of YfAG, James Kwabena Bomfeh, explained that the forum was meant to the capture the concerns and views of the youth for consideration in the passage of bills and oil/gas policy formulation process.

Ghana is expected to start oil drilling before the end of the year, but not a single bill to regulate the venture has been passed. Again, the nation is yet to develop an oil policy.

The Petroleum Revenue Management Bill and the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Bill which have been laid before Parliament are yet to be subjected to scrutiny by the legislators.

“This clearly shows that we are not prepared to start oil production, and any attempt to rush into the venture will not be in the interest of the nation,” Nanor Joseph, a student of Takoradi Polytechnic, pointed out.

Chairman for the forum was Prof. Atta Britwum, a Senior French Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast.

He reminded the nation of the great harm multi-national companies in the extractive industry had caused the nation with their activities over the years, and cautioned against any rush to start the drilling of oil.

Going by the negative experiences from the mining of gold, Prof Britwum was not convinced that the nation had positioned itself well to manage the oil production for the benefit of the citizenry.

“Our political representatives have always been eager to seek the interest of the multi-nationals because they are often frightened that if they don’t do the biddings of multi-nationals they could engineer their electoral defeats. This is a pity!” he decried.

He, therefore, challenged the frontline communities to take their destinies into their own hands and fight to put their elected representatives on their toes to make sure their interests are safeguarded are all times.

Mohammed Amin Adam, Coordinator of Ghana Publish What You Pay (GPWUP), called for effective measures to moderate the expectations of the people.

He accused politicians of needlessly raising the hopes and expectations of the people, warning “if we do not moderate the high expectations, they could lead to oil nationalism as it is happening at the Niger Delta in Nigeria .”

To him, oil could either be a curse or blessing depending upon how the nation positions itself well for effective and prudent management of the resource.

“Many people expect to be employed in the oil sector, but only 1,000 jobs will be generated. This means farmers should not leave farming; fishermen should continue fishing, while the oil money should be used for responsible investment in other sectors to create for jobs for the people,” he advised.

Osei Bonsu Amoah, Member of Parliament for Nsawam/Aburi, challenged the youth to be awake at all times, and make meaningful inputs into all issues of national concern.

He regretted that even though there are many NGOs and civil society organizations, they are not well equipped to check abuses in society due to their weak capacities and lack of knowledge.

He, therefore, urged them to always keep themselves abreast of the laws to enable them put the enforcement agencies on their toes to elicit effective implantation.

Hannah Owusu-Koranteng, Deputy Director of WACAM, called for proactive approaches to prevent the bad experiences associated with oil production in other countries.

“Mining legacy has been very bad for the nation, especially the affected communities, and from what is happening, the oil could even leave us with a more terrible legacy,” she noted.

Other speakers at the forum were John Peter Amewu, a researcher for GPWUP, Ann Dadson, a community activist, Kwesi Binney, founder of Patriots for the Protection of Western Region Heritage, and Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, Executive Director of WACAM.