Petroleum Bills Lack Security – Expert

STORY: FROM NANA YIADOM DANQUAH, T’DI

Analysis made on the new draft Petroleum Revenue Management Bill 2010 and Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill 2010, has revealed that both bills lack security measures to protect the country’s territorial waters and properties from crimes and social-vices.

The bills have shallow protection for personnel in the industry, according to the research.

Sharing his views on the study at a public forum on the drafted petroleum revenue management exploration in Takoradi, Commodore Godson Zowonoo, who is the Flag Officer fleet of the Western Naval Command, said the oil discovery will attract investors as well as people with ill-intentions into the country.

The forum brought together Members of Parliament and some civil society groups in the oil industry.

He said activities such as pair-trawling, child trafficking etcetera, if not checked, could spell doom for the country, adding that ‘authorities must initiate policies before disaster strikes.’

Mr. James Avedzi, Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament, on his part, explained that the purpose of the bills is to provide a framework to guide efficient collection, allocation and management of petroleum revenues.

The bill, he explained, when passed into law will enable efficient revenue management for national development, distinguish petroleum revenue from conventional revenue and help avoid potential loss of control of expenditure.

In her welcome address, Madam Betty Bosumtwi-Sam, deputy Western Regional Minister, intimated that the region has been neglected over time by succeeding governments and that as law-makers it was about time they instituted what she described as a ‘a marshal plan’ to accelerate the development of the region.

She noted that the oil belongs to the state but argued that the region where the oil exploration and production activities are based will be the hardest hit should there be any disaster, adding that “we deserve a share that will make up for depriving our fishermen of their livelihoods and to improve our infrastructure to bring us at par with other parts of the country.”

The deputy minister therefore called for a vibrant regulation that will strengthen the country so as to curtail the promotion of foreign interest at the expense of the nation.

Against that background, she urged participants to fashion out regulations that will protect the communities in the oil enclave.