Government committed to revamping Tema oil refinery - Energy Minister

Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has renewed government intention to revamp operations at the country's main oil refinery, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).

According to him, government will ensure a strategic partnership is in place for an effective revamp of the national asset's operations.

“TOR is a strategic national asset, we will keep it so and ensure that TOR grows from strength to strength, anyone working here management or ordinary who thinks his activities will not lead to the promotion of TOR should find himself a better place to work,” Opoku Prempeh told workers at the facility.

“I said it to the union leaders, and they did not love it, it is not the duty of the workers to tell who manages TOR. It is the duty of the management of TOR to ensure that TOR grows to become a profitable healthy concern, and if they are not up to it, it will be up to the owners of TOR to bring in the necessary change to affect that healthy relationship,” he stressed.

“And since the government is the only shareholder in TOR, the government will work to bring partnership in TOR that will help TOR grow not to help TOR break, and when those partnerships occur and I know they are going to appear very soon, we will not hesitate in removing stumbling blocks who want the collapse and hide under everything. We cannot understand where on your books people TOR have worked for, owe TOR as much as 13 to 18 million dollars and we cannot find money to pay TOR workers.”

The Energy Minister made this known when he paid a visit to the Tema Oil Refinery to acquaint himself with operations of the facility.

Meanwhile, the Tema Oil Refinery over the years has been plagued with numerous operational and managerial setbacks. The most recent being agitation by union workers who have demanded the dissolution of the board of TOR.

The workers say the board and its management have shown little commitment to the refinery's operations and a lack of a sense of urgency in improving the fortunes of the refinery.