TOR: Parliament to Take a Closer Look

For the first time in its 40-year old history, the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) one of Ghana's vital economic arteries, will come under intense public scrutiny.

Tomorrow, Parliament will begin a debate on three motions on the operations of the refinery to ascertain the quantum of its indebtedness and the volume of alleged corruption that must have contributed to its current insolvency.

A source close to Parliament said last Friday that the subject, which has attracted great public interest, especially after the recent 90% increase in the price of petroleum products is expected to be hectic. According to the source, though the issue should be approached from a non-partisan perspective, it would most likely be viewed from stridently partisan lenses.

Mr. Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Majority Leader who presented a "business paper" to Parliament last Friday said the motions would have been moved the week before but was deferred because of the controversy that hit the House on issues regarding the Wulensi bye-election, which led to the Minority walkout.

Tomorrow's debate involves the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority MPs, who have filed a private members' motion seeking that the House investigate TOR to determine whether or not the allegations of corruption, fraud, inefficiency and mismanagement levelled against the company by the President are true.

The motion wanted to know the true state of indebtedness of the company and whether the very high increase in prices of petroleum products recently announced by the government was realistic. Mr. Alban Bagbin, Minority Leader, Mr. Edward Doe Adjaho, Minority Chief Whip, Mr. Abraham Kofi Asante, Mr. Moses Asaga Minority Spokesmen on Energy and Finance respectively and Alhaji Ali Amadu, MP for Atebutu South are

sponsoring the motion.

The NPP also filed an amendment motion that said, "Aware of the many audits and other investigations which have been conducted into Tema Oil Refinery, calls upon government to present to the House all the audit and investigative reports."

It also asked that the TOR Audit Investigation Sales Revenue, January 2001-March 2002, Management and Financial Audit of Public Institutions (TOR), Final Forensic Review Report and Management Revenue 1991-2002 should be presented to the House.

The motion requested that the Committee on Fire Outbreak at TOR, Technical Committee on the Residual Fuel Catalytic Converter (RFTCC), and Presidential Committee on the Residual Fuel Catalytic Converter (RFCC) Project should also be presented to Parliament.

The NPP Majority is also requesting government to take steps to implement the recommendations in those reports to inject greater sanity and efficiency into the operations of TOR. The amendment motion, which is standing in the name of Mr. Osei

Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Chief Whip, Mr. Kwame Osei-Prempeh, MP Nsuta-Kwamang, Mr. Reginald Niibi Ayi-Bonte, MP Odododiodoo and Mr. George Isaac Amoo, MP Ayawaso West Wuogon, commended the government for the bold steps taken to stop further accumulation of the oil-related debts.

Another amendment motion which Mr. Stephen Kwaku Manu Balado, NPP-Ahafo-Ano South is sponsoring alone "calls on the President to appoint a Commission of Enquiry under Article 278 of the Constitution to probe into the total operations of TOR for the year 1992-2002 to establish the quantum

of indebtedness of TOR and to establish what portion of the indebtedness is due to corruption, fraud, inefficiency and mismanagement and other forms of impropriety."

Mr. Balado's counter motion urges government to be resolute and steadfast in the bold decision it has taken to stop the piling up of debts at TOR.

The refinery was established forty years ago using Italian technical expertise. Two decades later, the Italians were phased out and the refinery was taken over entirely by Ghanaians.

In its forty years, it has served Ghana well, keeping the economy from grinding to a halt.

Ghanaian technical expertise has not been exactly wanting and currently the refinery has a core of highly experienced Ghanaian engineers and technicians whose ingenuity has kept the refinery on its feet, even in the most trying of times.

Over the years, faltering economic fortunes of the country brought it to its knees, but it never quite ground to a halt, through that it got mired in debt which today is said to be threatening Ghana's local banking sector.

At the beginning of the NPP administration, there was talk of suspending refining at TOR so that finished products would be imported, which might have been cheaper. Following a "pricing formula" presented by the refinery, the idea was shelved.

The refinery had a major revamping exercise during the late 1990s and in late 2002, the Residual Fuel Catalytic Converter (RFCC), which is supposed to make the refinery more efficient was inaugurated by President Kufuor. With the coming on stream of the RFCC, TOR is recovering more gasoline (petrol) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). With the right feedstock, in terms of quality and regularity of supply, Ghana should now enjoy "self-sufficiency" in these two products.

But the question would have to come up again regarding the refinery's competitiveness and efficiency. This would decide the country's next move on its ageing refinery.

It is a critical area which Parliament must treat with much trepidation or else the proverbial throwing the baby away with the bath water will catch up with the country with more disastrous consequences.