Ghana Gas workers demonstrate against alleged mismanagement
A section of the workers of the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas) yesterday embarked on a demonstration over what they described as the mismanagement of the gas processing plant at Atuabo in the Ellembelle District in the Western Region.
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However, officials of the company have assured the nation that the action by the workers will not affect the operations of the company.
According to the management, the plant was up and running and all its safety measures were intact, contrary to claims by the demonstrators.
Allegations
The workers, led by the local union chairman, Mr Richard Alamu, and his deputy, Mr Sumaila Mahama, said they were against the safety protocols of the company, as well as the oil and gas sector’s disagreement resolution mechanisms.
They alleged that the fire extinguishers at the facility which expired several months ago had since not been replaced.
They also protested against the alleged poor quality of training for local staff by expatriates.
Mr Mahama claimed that safety officers at the plant had, on many occasions, declared the system as being “out of order” and cautioned workers who operated within the plant to be careful.
He also alleged that the skills transfer programme, as contained in the company’s contract with Sinopec Engineers to train the local staff to replace the expatriates in the areas of engineering for the management of the plant, had not served its purpose.
According to him, more than two years after the inauguration of the plant, the Chinese engineers were still working in the plant without training the Ghanaian staff as expected.
Response
Reacting to the allegations, the Corporate Affairs Manager of Ghana Gas, Mr Alfred Ogbamey, told the Daily Graphic that the safety of staff remained a major priority at the plant and that the company found it worrying that the demonstrators would violate the safety protocols and policies by their action.
“It is important to note that the oil and gas sector, both upstream and the downstream, frowns on the actions by the workers. Ghana Gas has safety protocols, policies and dispute resolution mechanisms in place like any other player in the industry,” he said.
Violations
For instance, he alleged that workers entered the premises of the plant with mobile phones, contrary to the rules of engagement.
“The rules are clear. Much as they speak to safety issues, they broke many of them by their actions. Phones, petrol engines or vehicles are not allowed in the plant,” he further claimed.
“As if violations of these protocols are not enough, they set out to deliberately mislead the unsuspecting public by taking pictures of parts of the plant tagged for replacement in a scheduled maintenance shutdown of the plant from August 31 to September 7, 2016,” he added.
Mr Ogbamey also explained that the fire extinguishers complained of by the demonstrators, whom he said numbered about 25, were valid until August 31 when they would be serviced.
Management, he said, was at a loss as to the motive of the union and added that the illegal demonstration did not have the backing or support of the national union.
“They (local chapter), on their own, made an undertaking at a meeting last Tuesday chaired by the Minister of Petroleum to call off the planned demonstration. This was after deliberations on their concerns showed that they had no legitimate basis for their threats,” he stated.
Mr Ogbamey also explained that the plant was to run on a three-year contract that stipulated that the Chinese expatriates run the plant for the first two years, after which they would hand over to the Ghanaian team, and supervise them for another year.
“In any case, we are well within the contractual period. How do we sack the Chinese in violation of the terms of the contract which formed the basis for the award of the $1 billion CDB loan?” he asked.