Energy Consultant, Dr. Yussif Sulemana, has raised concerns about the continuous redundancy of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), suggesting that it may lead to human capital challenges soon.
According to him, the current situation at TOR has compelled many skilled workers from the refinery to leave the country in search of greener pastures.
“In fact, it is already happening, we have a huge brain drain in most of our institutions and TOR is an example. So many qualified and competent people have left TOR over the last decade.”
“If TOR was on its feet, to be efficient they would have to employ, and probably they would want to employ but the atmosphere and the environment are not rife. How do you employ people when the infrastructure is not running or is not running profitably?” he added.
TOR which is Ghana’s first and only refinery has not been operational for a while now due to many challenges.
Several Civil Society Organisations like the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers and the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), had been at the forefront of calls on the government to do all it can to get the refinery back on its feet.
The Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, during a tour of the refinery, expressed the government’s commitment to ensure the facility is up and running as soon as possible.
Commenting on what it would take to get TOR back on its feet, Dr Sulemana stressed that “It will not take rocket science to let TOR run, we only need commitment and leadership at the topmost level.”