Your quest to establish the Petroleum Hub shouldn't be another rhetoric

Good morning Comerades of the press, in the spirit of patriotism and nationalism, we wish to petition the Ministry of Energy on the proposed petroleum hub in Jomoro in Ghana's Western Region.

We are urging the Energy Minister to take the opportunity being offered by the Energy retreat in the western region to come clear on the status of the petroleum hub in Jomoro. It looks like the CEO is gagged politically and will be wise to hear from the minister because it's a national security concern.

We the WNYL, with support from the paramountcy, have been able to tour and sensitize all the communities in Jomoro on the need to have the hub and its positive impact. We have been given the platform on National Farmers Day in Jomoro to speak about the importance of the hub.

But it looks like the government is trying to shortchange the good people of Jomoro and Nzema as a whole. We have nothing to boast about.

There is growing despondency among the youth regarding the delayed proposed petroleum hub which has promised thousands of jobs to the youth. We are somehow convinced that this is similar to the proposed fertilizer plant that did not see the light of day. We are humbly pleading with your outfit to be abreast with development regarding the hub.

We have been sensitized and conferenced on this for so long. We want to see the willingness and commitment on the side of government. We as a youth group have been able to do the needful to calm our people. We can assure you that now it's beyond us and we see this to be the usual political deception to win the vote.

Your constant neglect is very hard to believe. We want to ask if it's because you are dealing with the most peaceful tribe in the world. We are now fed up with all this community engagement with no results, We want to know when our dear poor farmers will be compensated. The funny aspect is that Farmers have been put in a serious situation. Because of the proposed hub, they aren't afraid to cultivate bent on the assurance of the operators of the hub.

Currently, as we speak, the hub has no office space in Jomoro municipality. It's become rhetoric to us when you want to manage a 60 billion project while you cannot afford an office space. It's a shame on our part as a nation. As a national flagship project, it needs to be prioritized and given to the necessary attention considering the value Jomoro adds to the national coffers.

We believe that too much is being hidden that this delay is exposing. The nonchalant attitude of the operators of the hub is making us lose confidence in the government when it comes to Jomoro and the national cake.

Our quest is to know the extent of the hub and when the president will come and cut the sod for work to begin. We the youth are offering our expertise to assist the government get the necessary investors from Russia should the government bear with us. Taking a cue from what the president said that, we should be citizens, not spectators.

A halt to the bureaucracies at PHDC will accelerate development. In as much as we support the hub coming into existence, we frown on conflict of interest, lack of relevant information, sidelining of relevant stakeholders and other fuzzy boundary leadership.

Nzema is home to Ghana's hydrocarbon, almighty Tano basin is in Jomoro. What else do we need to add value to it, we need a holistic and cost-effective approach.

We are humbly pleading with you to save the image of a revered paramount chief who doubles as the board chair by making the Petroleum Hub a reality. If it's about funds, there's a way we can help as the leadership of Western Nzema Youth League to get the government a paymaster to make this project a dream come true. We believe that No one should be underestimated.

Now we have been ungagged to speak for our people because the youth feel that they are throwing dust into our eyes. Let's recall the proposed fertilizer plant. It was a fallacy and a campaign slogan. We are very ready to legitimately resist such attempts to win our hearts.

Jomoro has never seen development ever since the oil find. The proposed Ghana National Gas was initially to be situated in Jomoro but was relocated for reasons best known to your ministry. Our roads are terrible, health systems are poor, no carbon offset program by operators of the Tano basin. Local content isn't checked. Oil firms do what they like and the holders of the resources wallow in poverty.

It's about time Jomoro is given its fair share of the national cake. We need to take into consideration the emergence of oil and gas and its related issues. The Niger delta, Sudan and a host of other nations should be case studies for us. We can't afford to lose our dear Jomoro that is the California of Africa to insurgency. Let's be open-minded and make this hub a success.

He who has ears must listen and listen well.