Government asked to act to prevent spiriting away of oil revenue

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People from 28 communities likely to be affected by oil production in the Western Region have appealed to the Government to institute measure that would prevent the spiriting away of revenue by oil companies.

   
  They urged the Government to monitor the progress of activities of the Oil Extraction Companies periodically so that the State was not short-changed

This was contained in a communiqué they issued at the end of a two-day workshop to deliberate on the legal regime, local content and sharing of experiences from the mining sector of the economy.

   
The participants asked for the immediate withdrawal the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)Document, which the Oil companies (Tullow) presented and was purported to have been endorsed by the Chiefs and people of the Ahanta/Nzema Districts of the Western Region because it was flawed.

   
They said the process of consultation was not adequate and transparent; 'most of the chiefs and people of the affected communities did not have access to the EIA document' and that the Chiefs and the people lacked the technical knowledge to understand the EIA and its likely effects on their environment and their lives.

It urged the Government to ensure that enough education on the impact of the oil extraction was given to the residents in communities likely to be affected by oil production and to intensify dialogue and consultation with the people and the traditional leaders of the oil-rich Regions on all matters relating to oil extraction prior to any extraction activity.

   
The communiqué called on the Government to desist from entrusting issues of security in resource-rich communities into the hands of the mining and oil companies because it was Government's responsibility to maintain security and not that of the oil and mining companies.

   
The participants called on the Government to come out with clear policies that would spell out how Ghana would benefit from the oil extraction including a formula for distributing oil revenue.

   
They observed that The Minerals and Mining Act 2006, Act 703 and other laws were crafted solely to favour multinational companies and called on the Government to amend the laws to cater for the interest of the people of Ghana and resource-rich communities.

   
The communiqué called for the strengthening of the country's financial administration laws in order to prevent corruption when oil revenue begins to be realised.  The Government should also make the petroleum and gas agreements available for public scrutiny.

 
WACAM, a human rights and mining advocacy nongovernmental organization, organised the workshop and was attended by 57 participants drawn from Ahanta West, Ellembele, Jomoro, Nzema East, and Shama Districts, all in the Western Region.