One of the promises that Nana Akufo-Addo made during his campaign for the December 7 election was the relocation of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) from its current location in Tema to the Western Region.
After his victory in the elections, Nana Addo has been on a ‘Thank You’ tour and when he visited the Western Regional House of Chiefs, he reassured the people of his plans for the GNPC as well as the use of oil revenues.
Nana Ekow Ntsie, a member of the Western Regional House of Chiefs as well as the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) , was one of the chiefs who welcomed Nana Akufo Addo’s determination to relocate the head office of the GNPC to the Western Region.
He has however cautioned that the move ensures that locals will get jobs and also advised that Nana Addo’s administration use the oil revenue for heritage projects like a railway route from Takoradi to Burkina-Faso.
“The oil is being extracted in the Western region, so how come the headquarters of GNPC should be sited in Accra whereby the area the oil is coming from is languishing? So it is a good that the headquarters will be relocated to the Western region and it is my prayer that the locals can get menial jobs to do even if not managerial appointments,” he said
“I want to urge the incoming government to also establish a railway system linking up all the way to Ouagadougou, in order to cut heavy loads from the harbour to landlocked countries on the continent” he added.
Nana Ntsie also advised Nana Addo’s administration to “invest Petroleum funds in heritage projects like railways” due to their benefits
Meanwhile some stakeholders are wondering what Nana Addo will do with the GNPC’s headquarters if oil or gas is discovered in other regions and whether the decision to relocate the GNPC’s office falls within the corporation’s own vision.
Source:www.viasat1.com.gh
