…Over Compensation rights
By J. Ato Kobbie, Managing Editor
Two lawyers, a private legal practitioner and a law lecturer, last Monday clashed over the issue of compensation rights of people in the communities along the coast of Ghana, where commercial oil for the country is expected to flow in the last quarter of the year.
The clash took place at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, where Mr. Abdul Baasit, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Legon vehemently disagreed with Nana Asante Bediatuo, a constitutional lawyer over the legitimacy of claim for compensation at a forum to preview a Joy FM/Multi-TV documentary Oil and Water, on the expectations of the people in some communities in the western region from the oil resource.
Mr. Baasit, strongly disagreed with a position of Nana Bediatuo that since by the constitution all minerals in the land, which includes the oil and gas resources, were vested in the state and therefore claims by some people in the communities near the oil fields for compensation as of right were extortionist and not to be encouraged as it would set a bad precedence.
Mr. Baasit argued however, that even though he agreed with the state ownership of the oil resource, parts of the expectations of the people were legitimate since certain rights that they already enjoyed were to be curtailed by the oil production activities.
“I heard Nana Bediatuo, a Constitutional lawyer saying that the people are not entitled to compensation and I disagree; because when people fish on the high seas, that right to fish in the sea can be monetized as an asset,” Baasit argued.
Continuing, he said “And if as a result of the drilling operations involving the rig you are denying them that opportunity to fish, you are denying them something which is valuable and it is a legitimate claim (they are making) and not a privilege being extended to them.”
Mr. Baasit, however, described certain expectations of the people, such as jobs as “extravagant expectations, which could be dealt with under local content legislation” and cautioned that key to managing the expectations of the people was the proper management of information surrounding the oil activities.
Contributing to the discussion, Mr. Theo Ahwireng, Geophysicist of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) emphasized that the offshore area of the western part of the country, where exploration and production activities would be taking place, appears ‘like a dot’ in the ocean, and at a distance where canoe fishing hardly took place.
He said there was therefore the need to understand the relativity between the Floating, Production, Storage and Production vessel (FPSO) and its operational area vis-à-vis the areas where fishing activities took place.
He emphasized that a debate on the issue of livelihood should therefore be on how to ensure a peaceful co-existence between those who depended on the sea and the oil production activities.
Deputy Minister for Information, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, on his part pointed out that it was important that the impression was not created that oil and gas was going to be the only activity in the country. He said all other activities such as agriculture and manufacturing as well as other sources of livelihood would continue in order to avoid the Dutch Disease, (a situation where all other sectors of economic activity are abandoned in the pursuit of oil).
He emphasized on the point of co-existence made by Mr. Ahwireng, saying, “it is still possible for fishing on the high seas, since it is a small radius that the oil exploration activities would take place.”
On expectations, Mr. Ablakwa said even countries that are producing millions of barrels of oil a day, such as Nigeria, have still not made it and it was important that people are not given the false impression about the oil and gas find.
Prof. Ken Attafuah a lawyer and lecturer stressed on the need for the people in the area to be equipped with the capacity to manage conflicts that may arise and welcomed an assurance by the Minister of Energy that government was committed to pledges being made in connection with the country’s oil production.
Dr. Edward Omane Buamah, Deputy Minister for Environment and Science, and a panelist at the forum, contributing to the discussion stressed on government’s position of integrating the gas production from the Jubilee Field with onshore activities that would lead to cheaper source of power for the aluminiun industry and create more jobs for the people.
He said since natural gas would also be converted to fertilizer, agriculture would also benefit from the production process.
Dr. Buamah said with the return of persons who were offered scholarship to study abroad, many more Ghanaian professionals would be available to lay legitimate claim to positions in the oil industry.
Other panelists at the forum who made contributions include the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nabdam and Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy, Mr. Moses Asaga and the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Mr. Vitus Azeem.
Alternative
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ms Joyce Aryee, also a panelist on the programme, argued that even though some of the expectations of the people could not be met, there were some things that could be done immediately.
She said there are alternative methods of fishing, such as ‘cage fishing,’ which fishermen whose traditional fishing methods would be affected could resort to for improved catch.
According to Ms Aryee, the Western region abounds in coconut, which could be put to so many uses that there was the need for the Jubilee Partners, led by Tullow Oil to think seriously of what to do with the crop.
“The people are not asking for something that is impossible. They are asking for something close to what they are doing and that is what we should be thinking about in terms of building capacity,” Ms. Aryee advised.
She said “the oil industry has become so technical that we should not pretend that we can employ many physical people” since everything is so technical that even robots would be used.
She called for a realistic appraisal of what could be done immediately, cautioning: “Let’s be consistently conscious that people need to live now and not only in the future.”
Mr. Kofi Wayo, founder of the United Renaissance Party (URP), was skeptical about the issue of compensation payments, citing examples of areas such as Aboadze and parts of the Volta region where he said the state appropriated lands without paying compensation to the communities that owned them.
A contributor, Mr. Jantuah, called for fencing of the area of operation of the FPSO to prevent any catastrophe from encroaching fishermen, whilst urging for the people in the Western Region to be given education.
Sources close to the partners in the Jubilee Oil Field have told The Business Analyst that with the arrival of the FPSO in the country last week, activities towards ensuring the flow of first oil are well on course.
The documentary, Oil and Water, saw people and opinion leaders in the town of Effasu express their opinions on what they expected from the oil production.
There has been a debate on whether the people living along the coast, where the Jubilee Field is located 65 kilometres offshore, were entitled to compensation or not.
Whilst some believed that they were entitled to compensation since the oil was to be produced from that part of the country, others have kicked against that arguing that benefits from the oil should be equitably distributed throughout the land.
Others have also argued that since some of the areas of their fishing expeditions would be restricted due to exploration activities they deserved compensation.
Others still have argued that the people in the area were entitled to jobs within the oil production process, whilst some chiefs and opinion leaders are also arguing for compensation in the form of royalties.
It was argued also that if some people believe in the institution of scholarship scheme for cocoa farmers then the compensation argument must hold.
Many have argued however, that conceding to the compensation claims by people in or near the communities where oil would be produced could lead to an upheaval by other communities, such as where other minerals like gold and diamond are produced and therefore ought not to be entertained.
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