FRUSTRATION, UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNWARRANTED HIGH COST OF LIVING, SUM UP ASSESSMENT OF RESIDENTS OF TAKORADI; AFTER FIVE YEARS OF OIL PRODUCTION
Frustration, unemployment and unwarranted high cost of living are just ‘a bird’s eye view’ of the plight of some residents of Takoradi five years after Ghana began commercial production of oil. This sentiments were gathered during the second round of “Ghana Connect” Programme hosted by Multimedia with funding from GOGIG on Friday November 20th, 2015.
Ghana discovered oil in commercial quantities in 2007 and began commercial production in 2010. Expectations of the people prior to production were high. For the average resident in Takoradi, a job in the oil industry or related services or an improved infrastructure in the city were enough compensation for residents domiciled in the oil production hub region
But it appears the expectations and the realizations are in sharp contrast. Not too long ago, Vice of the President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur inaugurated the Western Region Coastal Foundation; a foundation set up to manage the huge expectations of Ghanaians along the six coastal districts of the Western Region
Although the foundation has held its first consultative forum to solicit views of residents on how to meet their expectations, it appears they are not enthused and will not spare any opportunity to vent out their frustration
At a recent event by Joy FM in Takoradi to access the impact of the oil via its news program “Ghana Connect” the situation was no different from what has been expressed in many years since actual commercial production of oil began five years ago
“It’s a pity that out of the four priority areas, education is conspicuously missing. I believe we should have set out clear guidelines and policies on education before we started the production of oil, every child of school going age should not be on the street” a lecturer at Takoradi Polytechnic and a participant at the event noted.
“The four priority areas set out in the budget include expenditure & amortization of loans for oil and gas infrastructure, road and other infrastructure, agriculture modernization and capacity building (including Oil and Gas)” He added
For Ernest Bruce Amartey, another lecturer at the Takoradi Polytechnic, most of his colleagues, could not afford the unwarranted high cost of living such as rent, cost of transportation and other services brought unto them after the discovery and production of oil. “Most of my colleagues have now moved to the peripheries of the city where cost of living is much less. I have to pay seven thousand two hundred cedis in the next few days as rent. How do I get money for school fees and other vital expenses? He angrily quizzed”
The comments were similar if not same across every other person who attempted to speak about the oil benefits five years after its production
Although Director of petroleum at the Petroleum ministry Lawrence Apaalse, a panelist at the event argued that there have been some developments in the oil and gas sector, Member of Parliament for Takoradi, Kobby Otchere Darko Mensah describes them as exploitative investments meant to only drive the region’s resources away and not real investments that will benefit the people
He bemoaned what He said are unequal opportunities being exhibited in the oil and gas sector. He questioned why all oil companies had their headquarters in Accra, the nation’s capital and not Takoradi the regional capital of the Western region which is much closer to the FPSO where actual production is taking place
In his view such situations only present an unfair advantage for the people of Accra to be chosen over the people of the Western Region when employment opportunities present themselves. He said it was imperative that Ghanaian leaders need not to be only truthful but honest with the nation’s oil revenues and resources.
Friends of the Nation, a Non-Governmental organization based in Takoradi also raised concerns on capacity building describing monies that have been channeled to the sector as not helpful. Solomon Kusi Ampofo, an advocate with Friends of the Nation and a panelist at the programme further called on the minister of finance to come up with an investment plan of the monies accruing from the oil resources and what percentage and programmes designed to develop the Western Region
EMPLOYMENT IN THE OIL AND GAS SECTOR
It also emerged from the event that an estimated five thousand five hundred people have been employed in the oil and Gas Sector sine 2010 according to the petroleum ministry, a figure most residents in the Takoradi dispute as unemployment rate in the region especially among the youth is very high.
The Ministry however wants Ghanaians to be positive. As Lawrence Apaalse of the Petroleum ministry puts it, Ghanaians should try to be optimistic as the future looks bright for Ghana’s oil and sector
Hopefully, that bright future will present some good tidings for the people of the Western Region but as it stands now, the people say their hopes and expectations have been miserably dashed.
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