Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa and a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy, Mr. Kobina Tahir Hammond, has indicated that the Energy Minister should cancel some oil exploration contracts signed under the previous government administration.
He stated that the permits of most of the oil companies have gone beyond the three-year mandatory period without any successful oil returns.
Debating at the Plenary on the motion of the 2019 State of the Nation Address by the President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Mr. Hammond averred that there is no need for extending the licenses of some oil exploration companies.
“Mr. Speaker, if you look at the contracts, they are given three years in the first phase to do the appraisal. All of these companies have gone in the past three years. They have gone past the gestation period”, Mr. Hammond lamented.
Mr. Hammond made reference to the recent allegation by the government on the previous administration for signing Eni Gas Agreement, which has led to a monthly loss of US$28 million.
The Eni Gas Agreement was negotiated and signed by the previous government administration in 2015.
Minority’s response to the allegations
The Minority in Parliament, however, averred that the losses are due to the failure of the current administration to implement the deal negotiated and signed under the watch of the previous government.
The Minority Spokesperson on Mines and Energy and Member of Parliament for Damongo, Mr. Adam Mutawakilu, pointed out that the country would not have been paying such huge sums of monies if the current administration had continued from where the previous government administration left off.
“We had taken the necessary steps to ensure that the entire infrastructure relating to the Eni project should have been in place as of June 2018. But the current administration did not continue from where we had left off. If the government had continued with it, I don’t think we will be where we are today. Today, we are paying about $28 million for no use of gas. Meanwhile, plants are in Tema which need gas to run”, Mr. Adam explained.
The MP who doubles as the Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy reiterated that the current government is insensitive and that the Minority will not tolerate name-calling any longer.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi
